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Orchids
Summary
Why Orchids? Darwin wrote in his Autobiography, ‘During the summer of 1839, and, I believe, during the previous summer, I was led to attend to the cross-fertilisation of flowers by the aid of insects, from having come to the conclusion in my…
Matches: 16 hits
- … Ophrys muscifera (a synonym of O. insectifera , the fly orchid) and noted that only a small …
- … and on the good effects of intercrossing . The ‘Orchid book’, as Darwin usually referred to it, …
- … more beautiful, than in Woodpecker. ’ But at least one orchid was problematic. Darwin continued, ‘I …
- … to Gardeners’ Chronicle asking readers to observe the orchid. In it he concluded, ‘ It is this …
- … Gathering Evidence The conundrum of the bee orchid was only one curious point. Darwin soon …
- … of the stigma in Gymnadenia conopsea (the fragrant orchid), which Darwin went on to describe in …
- … lived on the Isle of Wight, asking him to observe the bee orchid, and requesting flowers of some …
- … structure of the rostellum (a projection in the column of an orchid that separates the anthers from …
- … (a synonym of Anacamptis pyramidalis , the pyramidal orchid) and Spiranthes autumnalis (a …
- … stay at Torquay did paper on Orchids all rest of year Orchid Book’ –as was so often the case with …
- … concerned Darwin, though, since he proposed to add a gold orchid to the cover of the edition. The …
- … all his other works; the cloth was plum-coloured with a gilt orchid on the front. The flower …
- … ‘ I am half-dead with working with M r Sowerby at the Orchid drawings ’. He worried, ‘The …
- … of its different flower forms. While the vast majority of orchid flowers are hermaphrodite, those of …
- … ask you to send me by mail the sheets of your little Orchid book—one by one—as soon as they …
- … remarkable sexual forms of Catasetum tridentatum , an orchid in the possession of the Linnean …
Orchids
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A project to follow On the Origin of Species Darwin began to observe English orchids and collect specimens from abroad in the years immediately following the publication of On the Origin of Species. Examining…
Matches: 6 hits
- … to JD Hooker, botanist and Director of Kew Gardens, about orchid anatomy. He is particularly …
- … that Gray was the only person to realize that Darwin’s Orchid book was a “flank movement” on the …
- … Duke of Argyll. He mentions an illustration of Darwin’s orchid and its predicted moth. …
- … was right in his theorization of a moth to accompany the orchid with the extraordinary long nectary. …
- … a classroom activity for your students. You may order the orchid species Darwin observed directly …
- … insects . The experiment is simple – all you need is an orchid of the genera Catasetum . This …
Floral Dimorphism
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a series of smaller studies on botanical subjects. Titled The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, it consisted primarily of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … work on floral dimorphism and the appearance of his new Orchid book. Letter 3515 - …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 6 hits
- … in Coryanthes ; he asked Oliver whether he knew the orchid, ‘with its wonderful bucket of water’. …
- … influenced the 1864 publication of a paper by another of his orchid correspondents, John Traherne …
- … to his 1869 paper focusing on the role of insects in orchid pollination (‘Fertilization of orchids’) …
- … preoccupied with the plight of another of Darwin’s fellow orchid-experimenters, John Scott. Their …
- … in 1862 with a letter regarding the fertilisation of the orchid Acropera . Darwin communicated …
- … to grow in 1864. In addition to Crüger’s and Trimen’s orchid observations, he received, for example, …
From morphology to movement: observation and experiment
Summary
Darwin was a thoughtful observer of the natural world from an early age. Whether on a grand scale, as exemplified by his observations on geology, or a microscopic one, as shown by his early work on the eggs and larvae of tiny bryozoans, Darwin was…
Matches: 3 hits
Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad
Summary
At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…
Matches: 7 hits
- … correcting Darwin’s description of reproduction in the orchid genus Acropera (see …
- … condition in Primula ’, as well as investigations of orchid pollination, occupied much of their …
- … that at the Edinburgh Botanical Society, where he read his orchid paper, anything that ‘savours of …
- … tropical plants Darwin continued his own study of orchid pollination and was aided by the …
- … study of Cypripedium , Acropera , and the bee orchid, Ophrys apifera , he gathered …
- … of Natural History. In addition to following Darwin’s orchid work, Hildebrand told him he had …
- … in Ophrys apifera , his ‘greatest puzzle’, an orchid that seemed perfectly adapted for both self …
Was Darwin an ecologist?
Summary
One of the most fascinating aspects of Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the extent to which the experiments he performed at his home in Down, in the English county of Kent, seem to prefigure modern scientific work in ecology.
Matches: 5 hits
- … the remarkable co-adaptation of an unusual flower, the comet orchid, Angraecum sesquipedale , …
- … that many of the strange morphological features of orchid flowers ‘made sense’ if looked at as part …
- … pp. 197–203), and speculated on the co-adaptation of orchid and moth: As certain moths of …
- … found Darwin’s account of how the structure of this orchid arose profoundly unsatisfactory. Campbell …
- … but Campbell’s distaste is evident. The orderliness of the orchid’s structure was better and more …
4.16 Joseph Simms, physiognomy
Summary
< Back to Introduction In September 1874, the American doctor Joseph Simms, then on a three-year lecture tour of Britain, sent Darwin a copy of his book, Nature’s Revelations of Character; Or, Physiognomy Illustrated. He was seeking a public…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of whether this feature had, like the formation of an orchid, a functional and evolutionary …
Darwin's 1876 letters online
Summary
Birth, tragic death . . . and cardigan jackets. To mark the 211th anniversary of Darwin's birth, we have released online the transcripts and footnotes of over 460 letters written to and from him in 1876 and a supplement of 180 letters written before…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of crossing, which will be a sort of complement to my orchid book, as this was devoted to the means …
Charles Darwin: A Life in Letters
Summary
The Darwin Correspondence Project goes to New York! Until 5 August, New York Public Library is hosting an exhibition about Darwin's life and work to celebrate the completion of the Darwin Correspondence Project.
Matches: 1 hits
- … of life, from working-class pigeon breeders to aristocratic orchid collectors. The letters open a …
Darwin as mentor
Summary
Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin urges John Scott to publish his work on orchid pollen-tubes. He makes suggestions and gives …
Darwin and ecological science
Summary
The word ‘ecology’ did not exist until 1867, and was not used in an English publication until 1876; Darwin himself never used it, yet it was his work on the complex interactions of organisms and habitats that inspired the word’s creation and he is often…
Matches: 1 hits
- … at Darwin’s spectacular prediction of co-adaptation in the orchid Angraecum sesquipedale and its …
Beauty and the seed
Summary
One of the real pleasures afforded in reading Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the discovery of areas of research on which he never published, but which interested him deeply. We can gain many insights about Darwin’s research methods by following these …
Matches: 1 hits
- … enable a Humming Bird to reach the curious recesses of an orchid better than a crest of sapphire. … …
Fool's experiments
Summary
‘I love fools' experiments. I am always making them’, was one of the most interesting things the zoologist E. Ray Lankester ever heard Darwin say. ‘A great deal might be written as comment on that statement’, Lankester later recorded, but he limited…
Matches: 1 hits
- … for Darwin, a form of wishful thinking. When considering how orchid seeds germinated, he told Joseph …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 3 hits
2.22 L.-J. Chavalliaud statue in Liverpool
Summary
< Back to Introduction At about the time when a statue of Darwin was being commissioned by the Shropshire Horticultural Society for his native town of Shrewsbury, his transformative contributions to the sciences of botany and horticulture were also…
Matches: 1 hits
- … broken off), is closely inspecting a flower, perhaps an orchid: the emphasis is on first-hand …
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to observe the arching shoots of Neottia (bird’s nest orchid) near her home in Surrey: ‘If you …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 3 hits
- … first letter of 1867 he reported on his experiments with an orchid whose pollen had a poisonous …
- … in 1867, a more than ten-year monopoly in the production of orchid hybrids (Shephard 2003). Darwin …
- … beginning of the article, an artist’s impression of the orchid Angraecum sesquipedale with its …
Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants
Summary
Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 16. The reference is to James Bateman, an orchid specialist (R. Desmond 1994). 17. …
