Ɛpsilon

To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer   1 April 1881

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)

April 1. 81

My dear Dyer

What a good-natured man you are to write & tell me about so many curious things— I will try & get the Pinguicula.1 But I write now to ask you to send me, if you will be so kind, one or two flowers in a tin-box by Post of the Monochætum, for I cannot understand my own notes, as I did not describe the flower & thought that I shd. never forget its structure.2

I shall, however, not dare to publish my results without repeating my experiments in fertilising the flowers in this genus; & raising seedlings; & the plants which Veitch has sent me (& he has sent his oldest plants) will not flower I shd. think for 2 or 3 years!—3

If by any chance any other Melastomaceous species is in flower please send me a flower.—

Ever yours gratefully | Ch. Darwin

1
The letter from Thiselton-Dyer has not been found but see the letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 21 March [1881]. Pinguicula is the genus of butterworts.
2
In 1862, CD began to study the differential fertility of two types of stamens in flowers of several plants in the family Melastomaceae (a synonym of Melastomataceae), including the genus Monochaetum. Flowers of many species in this family have two sets of stamens that differ both structurally and in colour. In notes dated 12 February 1862, CD had included detailed drawings of the flower structure of Monochaetum ensiferum (a synonym of M. calcaratum; drawings in DAR 205.8: 23). Another depiction of the flower structure of this species, dated 3 March [1862], is in DAR 208: 32. Further notes, dated between 15 January 1862 and 28 May 1863, are in DAR 205.8: 22–41; see also Correspondence vols. 10 and 11.
3
No record of the plants sent by the nursery Veitch & Sons has been found.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added
1.3 or two] interl
1.3 by Post] interl
2.1 my results] interl
2.2 & … seedlings;] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13104,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13104