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From Hugh Algernon Weddell   13 May 1863

Poitiers

May 13th. 1863

Dear Sir,

When your letter reached me I was suffering from a slight attack of congestion of the brain and was not able, on that account, to attend immediately to your request;1 indeed it was only the day before yesterday that I was able to set out in search of your Ophrys, but regret now to say that it was in vain. O apifera has always been a rare plant in this neighbourhood, but this year more so, it appears, than usual, as not a single individual was to be found. If at any future period I am more lucky, I shall not fail to observe a sufficient number of them as respects their manner of fertilisation and make you acquainted with the results. Indeed I should have done it long since on my own account, had opportunity offered, for I was much struck by the difference of arrangement of pollinia in O. apifera & O. arachnites, when I read your able dissertation on the subject in the work you were so kind as to send me.2

Let me now thank you for your paper on “two forms in Linum”.3 This was quite new to me; but we are becoming acquainted with so many cases of this kind, that I have no doubt many others will still present themselves. You may have seen what I have said on different genera of Rubiaceæ where dimorphism of this class is observable (Hist. nat. Quinq., pp. 21, 80 & 82; tab. 3 bis, 22 & 23)4   I do not, at this moment, call to mind, any other of a remarkable kind, except in Valerianæ, cases of which I have figured in the 2 vol. of my flora of the Andes.5 Many of the so said polygamous flowers in this genus, come, I suspect, under this head. A singular case of an hermaphrodite flower in which fecundation does not take place by the agency of its own stamens is met with in Cynomorium. This you will see a mention of in my paper on this plant, a copy of which I had the pleasure of forwarding to you through Baillière some time ago.—6

I remain, my dear Sir, Your’s very sincerely | H A Weddell.

CD annotations

1.1 When your … Linum”. 2.1] crossed ink
2.6 Valerianæ] underl red crayon
2.8 A singular … Weddell. 3.1] crossed ink
Top of letter: ‘Rubiaceæ’ blue crayon
1
The letter to Weddell has not been found.
2
The arrangement of the pollinia in Ophrys apifera and O. arachnites (a synonym of Ophrys fuciflora, the late spider-orchid) was discussed in Orchids, pp. 63–73. CD showed that O. apifera was adapted for self-pollination, and O. arachnites for insect pollination, a functional difference that led him to conclude that O. arachnites was a separate species, and not a variety of O. apifera as some botanists had supposed. CD sent Weddell a copy of Orchids in 1862; for CD’s presentation list for Orchids, see Correspondence vol. 10, Appendix IV.
3
Weddell refers to ‘Two forms in species of Linum’; Weddell’s name is included on CD’s presentation list for this paper (see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix IV).
4
Weddell 1849. CD had been informed of Weddell’s description of dimorphism in Cinchona, a member of the Rubiaceae, in 1861 (see Correspondence vol. 9, letter to J. D. Hooker, 25 November [1861] and n. 6).
5
Weddell’s observations on the Valerianaceae appear in Weddell 1855–7, 2: 17–34. CD had been informed of this work by Asa Gray (see Correspondence vol. 9, letter from Asa Gray, 31 December 1861).
6
Weddell 1860. The copy presented to CD is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL. Hippolyte Baillière was a firm of booksellers and publishers at 219 Regent Street, London, specialising in French medical and scientific texts (Post Office London directory 1863).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4161,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4161