To J. D. Hooker   5 July [1855]

Down

July 5th

My dear Hooker

I shd. be a much happier man if you would specifically name this grass for me: it has fairly beaten me: I am not sure even whether it is a Festuca; I feel pretty sure that it is not F. pratensis.—1 It grows on rather dry chalky banks. I have collected 35 species & named all, I believe, correctly excepting this & one other, which latter I think I shall make out, when in fuller flower.—

Ever yours | C. Darwin

P.S. | Lots of Celery, & some Onions, & Carrotts & even one Radish & one Lettuce have come up after 85 days in salt-water!—

1
See letter from J. D. Hooker, [8 July 1855]. At the end of this letter, Hooker added ‘F. pratensis. Huds.’ Festuca pratensis is a synonym of F. ovina, sheep fescue.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 specifically] interl
1.2 ; I feel … F. pratensis— 1.3] semicolon altered from full stop; ‘I feel … pratensis—’ added
1.3 It … banks.] added at top of page in MS
1.5 latter] interl
3.1 & Carrotts] interl
3.1 & one Lettuce 3.2] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1711,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1711