From W. H. Harvey 10 November 1864
4. Winton Road | Leeson Park, Dublin
10 Nov. 64
Dear Darwin
I have been disappointed in getting to town these last two days, & as it seems uncertain when I may be able to get in (as I have now lumbago to keep me to my chair) & as the weather is still very foggy (& bad for lungs) I think it best to send you as good an answer as I can without consulting books or specimens:1
The plants are Ipomœa argyræoides, DC. (I. cana, E Mey.)—& Ceropegia Bowkeri & C. sororia, both my own species.2
The Ipomœa appears to be common in the Eastern Provinces of the Cape— I have it from many correspondents, & if I remember right, also from Natal. All the native specimens I have seen give me the impression of a virgate, erect, rigid-stemmed plant, from 12 to 18 in. high—of compact, “neat” growth.
Seeds sent to Glasnevin3 by Mrs. Barber,4 accompanied by flowering dried specimens, have yielded a twiner, with laxly set foliage, which the last time I saw it was coiling up a pillar & at least 8 ft. (probably more) high. It had not flowered & showed then no sign of flowering; I dont know what it has since done—not having been to the garden. The wild, rigid specimens seem to be free flowerers.
Ceropegia Bowkeri & C. sororia are both from Caffirland;5 but the latter is also found in Uitenhage6 within the Colony. All the wild specimens I have seen are erect and straight stemmed, varying from 6 inches to 2 ft. high. They flower at all these heights.— At Glasnevin both have become twiners, requiring a stick to hold by, & grow 5–6 feet (prob. more) long. These also flower freely.—
I know a 3d Ceropegia with similar native habit (C. eriostoma, MS.), but it is not yet in cultivation.
I am disposed to think that even at the Cape species will vary as climbers or non climbers according to exposure. The common Cissampelos Capensis is either erect (when it grows on an exposed dry hill) or (like the rest of its brethren) a climber when it grows among bushes.—
I described (Thes. Cap. t. 51)7 a little Passifloreous plant, Tryphostemma Sandersoni, H., the first specimens of which I received were 4–6 inches high, bearing flowers & fruit—& therefore I supposed mature; these were quite erect. After some time came others 12–18 in. long, with larger leaves, but also erect. Since then I have been informed that on the borders of woods it grows 3–4 ft high, with a disposition to climb.
We poor botanists who are forced to describe from dried plants—unless assisted by carefully made notes—are sadly at the mercy of the Collector.
N.B. All the examples I have cited of erect plants becoming climbers, belong to families the majority of whose species have a climbing habit.—
Yours very truly | W. H. Harvey
Footnotes
Bibliography
‘Climbing plants’: On the movements and habits of climbing plants. By Charles Darwin. [Read 2 February 1865.] Journal of the Linnean Society (Botany) 9 (1867): 1–118.
Columbia gazetteer of the world: The Columbia gazetteer of the world. Edited by Saul B. Cohen. 3 vols. New York: Columbia University Press. 1998.
DSAB: Dictionary of South African biography. Edited by W. J. de Kock et al. 4 vols. Pretoria and Cape Town: Nasionale Boekhandel Beperk [and others]. 1968–81.
Harvey, William Henry. 1859–63. Thesaurus Capensis: or, illustrations of the South African flora, being figures and brief descriptions of South African plants selected from the Dublin University Herbarium. 2 vols. in 1. Dublin: Hodges, Smith & Co. London: John van Voorst.
Harvey, William Henry. 1859. On a new genus and two new species of plants from the Cape of Good Hope. [Read 18 March 1859.] Proceedings of the Dublin University Zoological and Botanical Association 1: 253–5.
Stewart, John. 1996. The British empire. An encyclopedia of the Crown’s holdings, 1493 through 1995. Jefferson, N.C., and London: McFarland & Company.
Survey gazetteer of the British Isles: The survey gazetteer of the British Isles including summary of 1951 census. By John Bartholomew. 9th edition. Edinburgh: John Bartholomew & Son at the Geographical Institute.
Summary
Identifies South African species of plants that are normally non-climbers in the wild but climb freely when grown from seed at Glasnevin. Thinks there is probably a gradation in the wild between climbing and non-climbing varieties related to the degree of exposure each particular plant faces.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4668
- From
- William Henry Harvey
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Dublin
- Source of text
- DAR 157.2: 112
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4668,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4668.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 12
