Ɛpsilon

From M. T. Masters   [before 13 December 1877]1

Gard. Chron. | 41 Wellington Street | Covent Garden

My dear Sir

I am greatly obliged to you for forwarding the interesting specimen of “self containedness” if I may coin such a word— I propose to have a figure made of it— Of course you are aware that some of the Bromeliads will flower under similar treatment  I do not know if seeds have ever been obtained in this way but it would be interesting to note their degree of vitality if produced.2

Your plant is evidently a Cotyledon of the § Echeveria—and I think it is the plant called in gardens Echeveria fulgens (see figure in Saunders’ Refugium tab 64. Vol. 1)3   I will however make further enquiries from Mr Baker who monographed the genus and will let you know the result4

With renewed thanks | faithfully yrs. | Maxwell. T. Masters

Charles Darwin Esq LLD &c

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from M. T. Masters, [13 December 1877].
2
CD had sent Masters a flowering branch and evidently asked Masters to identify the species (letter to M. T. Masters, [6–12 December 1877]). Bromeliads (family Bromeliaceae) are epiphytes in their natural environment, growing on trees, stumps, and decaying branches. In his letter to Masters of [6–12 December 1877], CD described how he had suspended the cut branch of his plant in his study.
3
Cotyledon is a genus in the family Crassulaceae (stonecrop or orpine). Echeveria was considered a subgenus of Cotyledon by many authors, but a genus by others (see Refugium botanicum 1: Tab. 56 and preceding text). William Wilson Saunders was the editor of Refugium botanicum.
4
John Gilbert Baker had described the genus Cotyledon within the natural order Crassulaceae in Refugium botanicum 1: Tab. 56–72.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4888,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4888