To Francis Darwin   [before 29 May 1879]1

My dear F.

Try & find out & read account of the fir-trees affected by some fungus & which produce upright shoots.— I want to know whether case is same with that common here with Silver fir. (A. pectinata?);2 the branches produce huge solid hard knobs with very rugged bark; & from these knobs shoots arise which are quite upright, but afterwards produce horizontal branchlets— The leaves are produced on them precociously. Can this be case described by German?3

diagram

Main Trunk

incomplete?

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Francis Darwin, 29 May 1879.
2
Abies pectinata (a synonym of A. alba) is the silver fir.
3
Francis was working in the laboratory of Julius Sachs at the Botanical Institute, Würzburg.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 upright] after del ‘ver’
1.3 hard] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12074B,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12074B