Ɛpsilon

To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer   10 May [1881]1

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

May 10th

My dear Dyer

You are much too good & take much too great trouble for me. I am really ashamed when I see how many notes you must have written about the seeds of Trifolium resupinatum.—2 My work is not worth the loss of so much of your time, but I am grateful to you, for I shd. have been very sorry to have missed having plants this summer.

Ever yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

Thanks about the Clematis.—3

Frank started 14 of hour ago for Strasburg.—4

1
The year is established by the reference to Francis Darwin’s departure for Straßburg (see n. 4, below).
2
CD had requested seeds of Trifolium resupinatum (Persian clover) in the letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 21 April 1881. CD and his son Francis Darwin were investigating the function of bloom (a waxy or pruinose coating) on leaves. Francis was focusing on the relation between bloom and the location of stomata, or breathing pores, of leaves; although he later recorded observations on several species of Trifolium, he did not mention T. resupinatum (see F. Darwin 1886, pp. 114–16).
3
See letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 7 May [1881]; Thiselton-Dyer had identified a species of Clematis for CD (C. montana).
4
Francis Darwin travelled to Straßburg (Strasbourg) to work in the laboratory of Anton de Bary; he returned on 1 August 1881 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

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

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13153,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13153