To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 14 July [1877]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
July 14th
My dear Dyer
Can you give me a few seeds of Lotus ornithopodoides, (which is very important for me) or wd. it be possible to get me 2 or 3 very young plants. Seeds of Any other species of Lotus perhaps wd. be very useful.2
Only one seed of Neptunia monosperma (which you sent me from Australia) germinated, & the seedling alas! has died.— I tried all sorts of plans to save it.— Have you any plant, & cd. you lend me one?—
Mimosa sensitiva (not M. pudica) none of the seeds have germinated. Have you a plant you can give or lend?3
Hooker thought that you had a grass, Strephium, & could lend me a plant,: but none came.4 It is the sole monocotyledon which sleeps.—
Have you seeds of Passiflora gracilis; I shd be very glad of a few.5
Malva Peruviana, Linn. Averrhoa Carambola Linn. Hæmatoxylon campechianum Linn. I put down these 3 plants, (which are mentioned by Linnæus as peculiar sleepers) for the bare chance of your having them.6
I hope & think I shall give no more trouble; & give yourself as little as possible i.e. by not writing.—
Frank & I are working very hard on bloom & sleep &c.; but I am horribly afraid all our hard work will yield uncommonly little if any fruit.—7
Your’s very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
P.S. | I have just thought of another point.— Can you spare me 1, 2, or 3 succulent species with good bloom on them, so that I may try effects of removing it & placing water on— Also if possible effect on evaporation, but to do this I shd have to break off 2 or more large leaves.— I possess only a Sedum, & there is not enough to form any judgments about.
Inhabitants of a dry country wd. be best I think.—
You will be a very good man, if you do not hate me.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Linnaeus, Carolus (Carl von Linné). 1755. Somnus plantarum. Doctoral dissertation of Peter Petersson Bremer under the supervision of Linnaeus. Uppsala: n.p.
Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.
Ohrnberger, D. 1999. The bamboos of the world: annotated nomenclature and literature of the species and the higher and lower taxa. Amsterdam and New York: Elsevier Science.
Summary
"Frank and I are working very hard on ""bloom"" and sleep" [movements]. Asks for succulent species for experiment.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11053
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Turner Thiselton-Dyer
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Darwin: Letters to Thiselton-Dyer, 1873–81: ff. 70–1)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11053,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11053.xml