To J. D. Hooker   30 January [1862]1

Down

Jan 30th

My dear Hooker

I received the Bletia this morning, rather dry from paper-Box.— I suppose that you are sure it is a Bletia for its pollen is very different from that of any of the Epidendreæ which I have seen, & agrees with description of that of the Arethuseæ. If it be a Bletia, by Jove, Lindley’s grand divisions are not a little fanciful.2 I shall be astounded if the distinction from state of pollen alone can make good main divisions.

I have not written since your note of Saturday, in which you offer to collect cases of Dimorphism:3 I shd. not wish you to take trouble on purpose; but if you would make a note of any cases on which you stumble, I shd. be very glad. The cases of Balsamineæ, Violaceæ &c, I believe to be widely different from that of Primula.—

You allude to Caryophyllaceæ; I shd. in this one instance like soon to hear to what you allude.—4

I have been very sorry to hear about Busk.—5

Bateman has just sent me a lot of orchids with the Angræcum sesquipedale: do you know its marvellous nectary 1112 inches long, with nectar only at the extremity. What a proboscis the moth that sucks it, must have! It is a very pretty case.6

Farewell | C. Darwin

1
The year is established by the reference to George Busk’s accident (see n. 5, below).
2
John Lindley divided the Orchidaceae into seven tribes distinguished principally by the nature of the anthers and pollen-masses (Lindley 1853, p. 179). CD had expressed dissatisfaction with Lindley’s classification system in his letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 [December 1861] (Correspondence vol. 9); he made similar comments in Orchids, p. 159. CD referred to the pollen-masses of Bletia in Orchids, p. 162 n.
5
George Busk broke his arm on the evening of 20 January 1862 (see letters from J. D. Hooker, [25 January 1862], and from J. E. Gray, 29 January 1862).
6
CD had already told Hooker about the box of orchids sent by James Bateman (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 25 [and 26] January [1862]). See also letter from Robert Bateman, [28 January 1862].

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.1 Saturday,] after del illeg

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3421,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3421