From T. H. Farrer   4 May 1878

Abinger Hall, | Dorking. | (Gomshall S.E.R. | Station & Telegraph.)

4 May/78

My dear Mr Darwin

I inclose a bit of Ledum which if not insectivorous—is certainly ferociously insecticide. I dont see it mentioned in your book: and possibly it is purely gratuitous malice and not self-interest which makes its sticky nectar the death of so many creatures.1 It is curious & painful to see them get their long legs fast to the style, & then gradually get more & more [involved].

I have been much struck with our Primulas this beautiful spring.— We have plenty of wild primroses & cowslips: and here and there an oxlip—(qu)—and primroses & oxlips I have seen run into one another.2

But Payne is proud of his Polyanthuses & Coloured Primulas and has them all about the shrubberies.3 They and the wild ones both seed themselves: and it seems to me that we are getting almost every kind of step & variety—in habit—ie—in umbel—& nonumbel—in close or open flower—and in colour, between primrose cowslip & polyanthus.— In a group of cowslips some will begin to get a more open flower: some to hold up their heads: some to have a deeper & richer orange—some longer pedicels to each flower—till we almost get a polyanthus—. The pink & mauve primulas elongate their stems & become umbelliferous. There seems to be no constant character. Some vary in a very ugly way by turning the flower into something like a shabby calyx.

Why should the Lady smock on our lawn become double, & form a handsome spike: whilst that in the field remains with its usual single flowers & flat head? It is neither soil, aspect or shade. Double flowers are a great puzzle4

I hope Payne has sent the Stipa to Frank5

Sincerely yours | T H Farrer

1
Farrer probably refers to Ledum palustre (a synonym of Rhododendron tomentosum, Labrador tea) or a closely related species. The nectar contains a glycoside that is toxic to some species of insect but not to the bees that pollinate the plant. CD’s book was Insectivorous plants.
2
The primrose is Primula vulgaris and the cowslip is Primula veris. Hybrids of the two species occur naturally; these resemble the true oxlip (Primula elatior) and are known as false oxlips. CD studied hybridity in these species in ‘Specific difference in Primula’.
3
George Payne was Farrer’s gardener. Polyanthus is the common name of a hybrid group derived from some species of the genus Primula; CD discussed experiments with polyanthus and Primula auricula in ‘Dimorphic condition in Primula’.
4
Varieties of lady’s smock or cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis) with double flowers occur naturally. Fully double flowers are usually sterile, as the sexual parts have become petaloid.
5
Francis Darwin had studied the ability of some awned seeds to bury themselves in the ground; most of his research was based on observation of seeds of Stipa pennata (feather grass; see F. Darwin 1876).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11494,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11494