From Fritz Müller1   28 February 1881

Blumenau, Sa. Catharina, Brazil.

28. Februar 1881.

Verehrter Herr!

In meinem letzten Briefe erzählte ich Ihnen, dass ich vier Blumen von Lagerstroemia in meinem Garten mit gelbem Pollen von einer anderen Varietät (oder Art) befruchtet hatte, und dass diese ungefähr eine Woche nach der Befruchtung abfielen.2 Ich habe jetzt den Versuch wiederholt, aber mit einem ganz andern Ergebniss; ich befruchtete 5 Blumen mit gelbem Pollen von eben jener anderen Varietät, und alle bringen jetzt gute Früchte hervor, ebenso gross, wie die zur selben Zeit mit grünem Pollen befruchteten. Ich weiss nicht, was in dem früheren Falle der Grund des Misserfolges gewesen sein mag …3

1
For a translation of this letter, see Appendix I. All Fritz Müller’s letters to CD were written in English (see Möller ed. 1915–21, 2: 72 n.); most of them have not been found. Many of the letters were later sent by Francis Darwin to Alfred Möller, who translated them into German for his Fritz Müller: Werke, Briefe und Leben (Möller ed. 1915–21). Möller also found final drafts of some Müller letters among the Fritz Müller papers and included these in their original English form (ibid., 2: 72 n.). Where the original English versions are missing, the published version, usually appearing in German translation, has been used.
2
See letter from Fritz Müller, 7 February 1881 and n. 3. Lagerstroemia is the genus of crape myrtle.
3
Some of the now missing part of this letter was probably summarised by CD in his letter to Nature, 14 April [1881].

From Fritz Müller1   28 February 1881

Blumenau, Sa. Catharina, Brazil.

28. February 1881.

Esteemed Sir!

In my last letter I told you that I had fertilised four flowers of Lagerstroemia in my garden with yellow pollen of another variety (or species), and that these fell off about a week after fertilisation.2 I have now repeated the experiment, but with a different outcome; I fertilised 5 flowers with yellow pollen from just this other variety, and all are producing good fruit now, just as large as the ones that were fertilised with green pollen at the same time. I do not know what might have been the cause of failure on the previous occasion …3

1
For a transcription of this letter in the German of its published source, see Transcript. All Fritz Müller’s letters to CD were written in English (see Möller ed. 1915–21, 2: 72 n.); most of them have not been found. Many of the letters were later sent by Francis Darwin to Alfred Möller, who translated them into German for his Fritz Müller: Werke, Briefe und Leben (Möller ed. 1915–21). Möller also found final drafts of some Müller letters among the Fritz Müller papers and included these in their original English form (ibid., 2: 72 n.). Where the original English versions are missing, the published version, usually appearing in German translation, has been used.
2
See letter from Fritz Müller, 7 February 1881 and n. 3. Lagerstroemia is the genus of crape myrtle.
3
Some of the now missing part of this letter was probably summarised by CD in his letter to Nature, 14 April [1881].

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13068A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13068A