To John Scott 15 December 1876
Down, Beckenham, Kent,
December 15, 1876.
Dear Sir,—
I am going to republish my dimorphic papers with new matter, and with an abstract of all that has appeared. In an old letter of yours you tell me that you have seen only one form of Lagerstræmia, and that this was sterile with their own pollen in your gardens.1 Can you give me any further information? I suppose you have a collection of dried plants in the gardens, and if so would you kindly look at the dried specimens and see if you can make out whether two or three forms exist. They would be easily recognised by the length of the pistils and stamens and differently coloured anthers. If you can find different forms, perhaps Dr King (if told the object) would allow you to send me a flower or two of each form, so that I might measure the size of the pollen grains.2 I hope that you have received a copy of a new book of mine despatched about a fortnight ago.3
I remain, my dear sir, | Yours sincerely, | Ch. Darwin.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Cross and self fertilisation: The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1876.
Forms of flowers: The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1877.
Freeman, Richard Broke. 1977. The works of Charles Darwin: an annotated bibliographical handlist. 2d edition. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.
Summary
CD is eager for further information about Lagerstroemia, which is sterile with its own pollen. Does the collection of dried plants reveal more than one form? Plans to republish papers on dimorphism.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10721F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Scott
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Transactions of the Hawick Archæological Society (1908): 70
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10721F,” accessed on 27 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10721F.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 24