From:
Charles Robert Darwin
To:
Gardeners’ Chronicle
Date:
13 Nov [1855]
Source of text:
Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette , no. 46, 17 November 1855, p. 758
Summary:
Reports a case of charlock seeds that retained their vitality for at least eight or nine years. He suggests that their power of retaining vitality when buried in damp soil may be an element in preserving the species and therefore seeds may be specially endowed with this capacity, while the power of retaining vitality in dry, artificial conditions may be an indirect accidental quality of little or no use to the species.
Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project