To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 23 June 1874
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
June 23rd. 1874
My dear Mr Dyer
I wrote to you abt a week ago, thanking you for information on cabbage seeds, asking you the name of a Luzula or Carex, & on some other points; & I hope before very long to receive an answer.1 You must now, if you can, forgive me for being very troublesome for I am in that state in which I would sacrifice friend or foe. I have ascertained that bits of certain leaves, for instance Spinach, excite much secretion in Pinguicula, & that the glands absorb matter from the leaves.2
Now this morning I have received a lot of leaves from my future daughter-in-law in North Wales, having a surprising number of captured insects on them, a good many leaves, & two seed capsules.3 She informs me that the little leaves had excited secretion; & my son4 & I have ascertained this morning that the protoplasm in the glands beneath the little leaves has undoubtedly undergone aggregation. Therefore, absurd as it may sound, I am prepared to affirm that Pinguicula is not only insectivorous but graminvorous & granivorous! Now I want to beg you to do is to look under the simple microscope at the enclosed leaves & seeds, & if you possibly can tell me their genera.5 The little narrow leaves are remarkable; they are fleshy with the edges much curled from the axis of the plant and bear a few long glandular hairs; they grow in little tufts. These are the commonest on Pinguicula, & seem to afford most nutritious matter. A second leaf is like a miniature sycamore. With respect to the seeds; I suppose that one is a Carex,; the other looks like that of Rumex, but is enclosed in a globular capsule. The Pinguiculæ grew on marshy low mountainous land. I hope you will think this subject sufficiently interesting to make you willing to aid me as far as you can.
Any how forgive me for being so very troublesome, & believe me to be Yrs very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875.
Summary
Has found Pinguicula excited by bits of leaves; appears to digest leaves and seeds. Plant not only insectivorous but graminivorous. Asks WTT-D to identify seeds.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9508
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Turner Thiselton-Dyer
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Thiselton-Dyer, W. T., Letters from Charles Darwin 1873–81: 12–13)
- Physical description
- LS(A) 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9508,” accessed on 17 August 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9508.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22