Dated by the relationship to the letter to George Bentham, 3 February [1862] (see n. 2, below), and to the letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1862], in which CD asked Hooker to thank Oliver for his ‘short extract & references’. See also letter to Asa Gray, 16 February [1862].

In his letter to George Bentham, 3 February [1862], CD had requested information concerning the relative fertility of the two sets of stamens found in octandrous species of the Melastomataceae and concerning the floral anatomy of tetrandrous species. Bentham declined to help (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1862], and letter to Asa Gray, 16 February [1862]), but apparently communicated the enquiries to Oliver and Joseph Dalton Hooker, his associates at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (see letter from J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1862] and n. 2). Oliver cites Naudin 1849–52. CD’s notes and comments on this work are in DAR 205.8: 62–3; he also appended notes based on Charles Naudin’s work to an earlier summary of his experimental findings dated 3 February 1862 (DAR 205.8: 46 v.).