From Charles Cardale Babington   17 January 1862

Cambridge

17. Jan. 1862.

Dear Darwin

I am much obliged to you for sending the separate copy of your exceedingly interesting paper. I was looking forward to the time when it would come in the Journal, and am glad to be able to anticipate that time by reading it now.1

I presume that you have had no opportunity of looking at the true Oxlip, P. elatior, which is, I believe, confined to woods on a stiff soil in what are called the Eastern Counties. It is quite as distinct from the Cowslip and Primrose as those are from each other—at least such is my opinion—and it has the same two forms of pin-headed and thumb-eyed flowers as those possess.2

I noticed the existence of similar differences in the allied genus Hottonia as long since as the 1st edition of my “Manual” (1843).3 But then and up to the present time had supposed that the pin-headed form was always barren. In fact, I have never seen seeds produced by that form of Hottonia. But then it is not easy to notice a quantity of such an aquatic plant. I have more than once had plants of it growing in a jar of water. It is very pretty when thus grown.

In Stellaria graminea two forms are found which probably correspond with those of Primula (See Man. ed. 3 or 4).4

Yours very truly | Charles C. Babington—

C. Darwin Esq. May it not be species of Hepialus that fertilize the Primulæ. Those Moths frequent the proper places, at the proper date, and in the evening.5

CD annotations

1.1 I am … now. 1.4] crossed ink !alignleft!2.1 I presume … existence 3.1] crossed ink
3.1 similar … barren. 3.3] ‘(See Lecoq & Vaucher)’6 added in margin, red crayon
3.1 as long … (1843). 3.2] scored red crayon
4.1 In … 4). 4.2] scored both margins, red crayon
1
‘Dimorphic condition in Primula’; Babington’s name appears on CD’s presentation list for this paper (see Correspondence vol. 10, Appendix III).
2
In ‘Dimorphic condition in Primula’, p. 77 (Collected papers 2: 45), CD referred to the terms used by florists to describe the two forms of Primula, namely, ‘pin-headed’ or ‘pin-eyed’ for the form displaying the stigma at the mouth of the corolla, and ‘thumb-eyed’ for the form displaying the stamens (according to the OED, the correct term is ‘thrum-eyed’). CD designated the two forms ‘long-styled’ and ‘short-styled’, respectively. Although CD’s paper discussed many species, it did not mention P. elatior. During the course of his investigations into hybridisation among Primula species, he had been informed of the two forms of P. elatior by Henry Doubleday (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter from Henry Doubleday, 16 May 1860). CD discussed the case in Forms of flowers, pp. 72–3, citing C. C. Babington 1851, p. 258.
3
C. C. Babington 1843, p. 242.
4
Babington referred to two forms of Stellaria graminea (grass-like starwort), one with shorter, the other with longer petals, in C. C. Babington 1851, p. 51, and in C. C. Babington 1856, p. 53. CD cited C. C. Babington 1851 on this point in Forms of flowers, p. 313 n. There is a lightly annotated copy of the third edition of Babington’s Manual of British botany in the Darwin Library–CUL (see Marginalia 1: 27–8).
5
CD speculated about which insect species might be involved in the cross-fertilisation of Primula species in ‘Dimorphic condition in Primula’, p. 85 (Collected papers 2: 52), concluding: ‘I am led to suppose that both Primroses and Cowslips are visited by moths.’
6
Lecoq 1854–8, 8: 146 and Vaucher 1841, 3: 723. There are annotated copies of both works in the Darwin Library–CUL (see Marginalia 1: 488–95, 812–15).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3393,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3393