To Daniel Oliver 1 June [1867]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
June 1st
Dear Oliver
Would you have the great kindness to name for me the enclosed plant— if you cannot make out the species, the genus wd. suffice.
A friend sent a Woodcocks foot with 9 gr. of earth adhering to it, & this plant came up.— It has been grown in pot in greenhouse & the flowers have never opened & stamens appear rudimentary— whether this is natural, or due to the plant being properly a marsh plant, or to some other cause, I know not.—2
Excuse me bothering you & believe me | Yours very 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–.
Origin 4th ed.: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 4th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1866.
Origin 5th ed.: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 5th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1869.
Smith, James Edward. 1824–36. The English flora. 5 vols. in 6. Vol. 5, pt 1 (mosses etc.), by William Jackson Hooker; pt 2 (fungi) by Miles Joseph Berkeley. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green.
Summary
Asks DO to identify a plant grown from earth adhering to the foot of a woodcock.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3587
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Daniel Oliver
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3587,” accessed on 29 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3587.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15