Ɛpsilon

To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer   21 April [1881]1

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

Ap. 21.

My dear Dyer

Could you send me a little seed of Trifolium resupinatum. It is most provoking that I remember saving some, which I have placed in some place so safe that I cannot after endless hunting find it.—2

I enclose envelope addressed, & if I do not receive the seed, shall understand that you have not any, so do not trouble yourself by writing.

Ever yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

P.S. Do not think that I do not value your letters, by my saying “do not write”. On the contrary I have been just rereading several with valuable information & suggestions in relation to the bloom on leaves, as I have been looking over my notes on this subject during the last few days.—3

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 10 May [1881].
2
Thiselton-Dyer had sent seeds of Trifolium resupinatum (Persian clover) in 1877 and 1878 (see Correspondence vol. 25, letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [20–4 August 1877], and Correspondence vol. 26, letters to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 16 February [1878] and 24 August [1878]. CD made further experiments on this species and the protective function of bloom, the epicuticular coating on the surface of the leaves; his notes, dated between 6 July 1881 and 12 April 1882, are in DAR 209.12: 180–2.
3
For Thiselton-Dyer’s letters on bloom, see, for example, Correspondence vol. 25, letters from W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [June 1877 or later] and 25 August 1877, and Correspondence vol. 26, letter from W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 29 January 1878. CD’s notes on the application of water to leaves of Trifolium resupinatum, made between 17 August and 10 October 1877, are in DAR 209.12: 176–8.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13130,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13130