To W. A. Leighton 4 December [1862]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Dec. 4th
My dear Sir
How extremely kind you have been, but I am ashamed to think of the trouble which I have caused you. The difference in the hair is indeed striking: I see De Jonghe just alludes to the patent & [adpressed] hairs in G. Ch. 1858 p. 103.2 I grieve to find, & the more grieved after all the trouble which you have taken, that I have not knowledge enough to work out the curious fruit [text missing]
I had a Verbasum in my garden (which I now know to be a natural hybrid from V. thapsus & lychnit[i]s) & I wished to make some experiments on it; so I asked Mrs. Darwin to come & tie in thread the quite young flowers.3 To do this she had with forceps to pull off buds on each side. When I came to fertilise them, I cried out ‘Why have you chosen old flowers & the corollas are all dropped off?’ She declared she had not & tied some more & when I came I found them also all off. So I said we will make sure this time for we will pull each flower and see the corolla is firm; so we again pulled off the buds on each side & tied the thread, when lo & behold off dropped all the corollas. It is caused by the movement of the sepals.— So I came [illeg] the hair & [revisited] [illeg] & at last [illeg] Sir [J. S] Smith British [illeg] statement on [auth] [illeg] [come to same] [illeg] to V. pulverulentum [illeg] virgatum,4 which [illeg] plants If I do not [illeg] I will rely that it [illeg] plants virgatum; for [text missing]
My dear Sir, with cordial thanks | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Smith, James Edward. 1800–4. Flora Britannica. 3 vols. London: J. White.
Summary
Apologises for the trouble he has caused over his enquiries about strawberries. Describes the problems he and Emma have had with Verbascum.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3633F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Allport Leighton
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Unknown dealer
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3633F,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3633F.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18 (Supplement)