Ɛpsilon

To J. D. Hooker   25 November [1877]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Nov. 25

My dear Hooker

Could you not get Mr Lynch to answer this note?2

Two Neptunia oleracea of last lot have germinated in a pan kept at tremendous heat.— What had I better do with them? I thought to put pan, as soon as any true leaves appear, in larger vessel & fill with water up to bases of true leaves; but I am of course quite ignorant how to treat them.—3

Ever yours | C. Darwin

Could you send me seeds of Oxalis sensitiva

I want to see cotyledons.—4

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 November 1877.
2
Richard Irwin Lynch was foreman of the propagating department at Kew; his reply has not been found.
3
See letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 November [1877] and n. 2, and letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 November 1877. Neptunia oleracea (a synonym of N. prostrata) is water mimosa or sensitive neptunia.
4
CD discussed the movement of the cotyledons of Oxalis sensitiva (a synonym of Biophytum sensitivum) in Movement in plants. See also letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [20–4 August 1877] and n. 2.
5
DAR 95: 464 is a printed copy of the public oration delivered at CD’s honorary LLD ceremony (see Appendix VII); it was presumably enclosed with this letter, judging by its position in the archive.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Down, Beckenham, Kent.] above del ‘Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.’
2.1 oleracea] ‘o’ over ‘a’
2.1 of last lot] interl
2.3 with] after del ‘up’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11253,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11253