My dear H.

I return Naudin’s letter, which I have been very glad to see: it is a clear case of the direct & immediate action of the pollen on the mother-plant, & rejoices my heart, for I look at such cases as unintelligible on any common view of the act of impregnation.—¹

Etty & I admire your coolness in blowing us up for not understanding your inserted new case & difficulty, & we admire still more your candour in letting the rat out of the bag.² I do not envy your wriggles in making the case harmonise with other facts;—but it must be done & I do not doubt you will succeed.—

Müller counted above 13 sp. of orchids growing on one tree!³

You said you did not know of violet on Peak of Teneriffe, I enclose scrap which if useless cannot signify.—⁴

Fritz Müller has just sent me seeds of a dimorphic Plumbago, about which I bothered you:⁵ he has sent me seeds of a climbing Lobelia & of another kind which grows 10 ft high!!! I shall be curious to see this: I have also plants now growing of a dimorphic Cordia from S. Brazil: I never know whether any such things are worth offering you for Kew.—⁶ For instance I have several (& had more, but threw away) species of Oxalis from C. of Good Hope.—⁷ Here is a piece of good luck, a plant of Cyrtopodium of R. Brown,—the genus next to Catasetum—is coming into flower with me.—⁸

your affect | C. Darwin