From T. B. Blow   15 January 1876

Dear Sir,

In this County I have never noticed Convolvulus arvensis¹ in Fruit till this last autumn and as the circumstances under which it fruited were peculiar I thought you might like to hear of it.

A cutting was made at Welwyn station to enable carts &c to get alongside a certain siding.

On the edge of the cutting and where its roots were cut through Con. arvensis produced perfect seeds freely.²

This case alone I should not have thought much of but when in Surrey a few weeks ago with a friend I looked at Con. arvensis to see if I could see fruit. ⁠⟨⁠    ⁠⟩⁠ remarked, “You wont find that in Fruit   I never saw it but once and that on the edge of a bank where its roots had been cut and the plant in danger of extermination”

I believe it fruits in places near the sea   in fact I saw specimens collected in Kent last autumn but did not enquire whether it grew in a sandy place where its roots could ⁠⟨⁠n⁠⟩⁠ot obtain much hold to enable the plant, to keep its ground.

Believe me | Yours truly | Thomas B. Blow

Chas Darwin. Esq^r.