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Darwin Correspondence Project

To Asa Gray   20 March [1880]

Down Beckenham | Kent

March 20th

Will you be so kind as to tell me whether Mr. Thompson of Ipswich is right that Ipomœa leptophylla makes a great tuber as big as a manget-wurzel.—1 A word on post-card wd suffice. Petioles of Cotyledons behave partly like those of Megarrhiza.2

C. Darwin

Footnotes

In his letter of 6 November 1879 (Correspondence vol. 27), Gray had recommended that CD try to obtain Ipomoea seeds from William Thompson (1823–1903). CD later reported that the seeds he had of Ipomoea leptophylla (bush morning-glory) had not germinated (letter to Asa Gray, 19 January 1880). The mangel-wurzel or mangold wurzel is a variety of Beta vulgaris.
In his letter 19 January 1880, CD described the early growth of Megarrhiza from seeds that Gray had sent him. For CD’s discussion of the movement and growth of seedling plants of Megarrhiza californica and Ipomoea leptophylla, see Movement in plants, pp. 81–5.

Bibliography

Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.

Summary

Asks AG to confirm whether Ipomoea leptophylla "makes a great tuber as big as a mangel-wurzel".

Petioles of Cotyledons behave partly like those of Megarrhiza.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-12541
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Asa Gray
Sent from
Down
Postmark
MA 20 80
Source of text
Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (Walter Deane Autograph Collection)
Physical description
ApcS

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12541,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12541.xml

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