Ɛpsilon

To A. G. More   23 September [1861]1

Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.

Sept. 23d

My dear Sir

As I have drawn up my paper on the fertilisation of Orchids, I shd. be very glad to hear about the capsules of Ep. palustris. Will you, therefore, apply to your friend?—2 If ripe I shd. like to see any capsules produced by the mutilated flowers & others for comparison.— In some other experiments on Orchids I have found that the external size of capsule is a very poor criterion of production of good seeds.— Will you ask your friend to observe how far the untouched flowers have produced capsules.— And please inform me how many flowers you mutilated.—3

Pray excuse my asking you to take all this trouble about my hobby-horse. I am very curious on the point, though I shall not be surprised to hear that I have much exaggerated the importance of the Labellum.—4

I hope that you have quite recovered your health.— And pray believe me | My dear Sir | Yours sincerely & obliged | Charles Darwin

1
This letter was first published in Correspondence vol. 9, transcribed from a copy on which the year is recorded (DAR 146: 402).
4
In the description of Epipactis palustris in Orchids, CD noted that the ‘curiously shaped’ labellum was divided into two parts joined together by a hinge and suggested that the distal half formed ‘an excellent landing-place for insects’ (Orchids, p. 98).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.00 on Orchids] interl
1.00 how] after del illeg

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3262,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3262