Ɛpsilon

From William Alexander Wooler   5 May 1863

Sadberge Hall | Darlington

5th May 1863

Dear Sir

The enclosed may interest you— They are from seed saved in 1860 from a cowslip and only from pips which I impregnated with the pollen of the polyanthus   they were sown late in 1861 and have remained in the seed pans—in which the seed was sown undisturbed   have been much neglected or otherwise no doubt they would have flowed larger— The ticket of the memo of the seed having been crossed remains in the pan they are growing in— These four are all that have flowed as yet— I should say there are about other 4 not yet flowered— Having been sowed late in 1861 did not bloom in 18621

In haste yours very truly | W Wooler

C Darwin Esq | Bromley | Kent

1
The experimental crosses that produced these seedlings are described in the letter from W. A. Wooler, 5 July 1862 (Correspondence vol. 10). CD presented Wooler with a copy of ‘Dimorphic condition in Primula’ (see Correspondence vol. 10, Appendix III) after corresponding with him on polyanthuses (see ‘Dimorphic condition in Primula’, p. 79 (Collected papers 2: 47); the correspondence has not been found). CD may also have corresponded with Wooler regarding the crossing experiments between polyanthus and the common cowslip (Primula veris) that he was undertaking at the end of April 1862 (DAR 157a: 76–7). The results were published in ‘Three forms of Lythrum salicaria’, p. 187 (Collected papers 2: 121).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4141,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4141