To George Bentham   8 December 1876

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Dec 8th 76

My dear Mr Bentham

You wrote to me in 1864 a very valuable letter, enclosing specimens Ægiphila, which I have been examining & find splendidly dimorphic. In this same letter you say that you believe that Boronia pinnata is likewise dimorphic, or as I now prefer to call such plants heterostyled.1 I am preparing to republish all my papers on this subject with additional matter, & I am anxious to give as many Families as possible.2 Now could you without great trouble send me two or three flowers of both forms of the Boronia; if so I should be greatly oblig⁠⟨⁠ed⁠⟩⁠

Pray believe me, | My dear Mr Bentham, | Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin

P.S. I have told Murray to send you a copy of a book just published by me, which you may like to look at, though it is not possible to read all.3

LS

1
Bentham had sent flowers of Aegiphila elata (tall spiritweed) and A. mollis (contra culebra) with his letter of 10 July 1864 (Correspondence vol. 12). He had studied the floral structure of some species of Boronia and noted great differences in the length of styles and stamens in Boronia pinnata. Boronia is a genus in the family Rutaceae (rue and citrus).
2
CD incorporated material from his papers on dimorphic and trimorphic plants published in the 1860s (‘Dimorphic condition in Primula’, ‘Three sexual forms of Catasetum tridentatum’, ‘Two forms in species of Linum’, ‘Three forms of Lythrum salicaria’, ‘Illegitimate offspring of dimorphic and trimorphic plants’, and ‘Specific difference in Primula’) into Forms of flowers, published in July 1877 (Freeman 1977). He described Aegiphila in ibid., pp. 123–4.
3
Bentham’s name was not on the presentation list (see Appendix III), but CD had asked his publisher John Murray to send Bentham Cross and self fertilisation, which had been published in December 1876 (DAR 210.11: 6).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10706,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10706