Ɛpsilon

To G. H. Darwin   [after 25 February 1879]1

Frank found a Trifolium or Clover very remarkable for bloom, & it was not in flower & so could not get name.— If you know where it grows, (you cd recognise it by basal half of lower surface of the 2 lateral leaflets being partially wetted when immersed) & would take trouble to dig up whole plant, it is highly probable that Durando would recognise it by its general appearance, & this wd be of service to us.2

C. D.

I hope you received the Circular about overplus of my Income.—3

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to the Darwin children, 21 February 1879, which was sent first to William Erasmus Darwin, to be forwarded to George and Francis. William wrote in his letter of 25 February [1879] that he was forwarding the letter to George.
2
Francis Darwin was in Algiers visiting George Howard Darwin; he had been observing bloom on the leaves of plants there and had gone plant-hunting with the botanist Gaetano Durando, a correspondent of CD’s (see letter from Francis Darwin, [c. 25 February 1879]). Trifolium is the genus of clovers.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.3 by] after del ‘from’
1.4 highly] interl
1.5 its] interl
2.1 I … Income.—] added pencil

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10342,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10342