From J. T. Moggridge   10 May [1866]1

Villa Christiana | Cannes

May 10

Dear Mr. Darwin

I send you per grand Vitesse 2 a box of Orchids.—

I fear that the hot weather will spoil many of them—

I have quite failed to obtain any self-fertilizing specimens of Oph. scolopax Cav.3

I send Oph. apifera Huds.4

— scolopax Cav.

— Bertolonii Guss

Serapias Cordigera L.5

Orchis papilionacea L. (?)

Neotinea intacta Rchb.6

We propose starting for England on Monday next & I shall hope to bring a box of Orchids with me—

Believe me yrs. very sincerely | J. Traherne Moggridge.

Ch. Darwin Esqre

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from H. E. Darwin, [c. 10 May 1866].
3
Moggridge had observed two forms of Ophrys scolopax; one found at Cannes was self-fertile, another found at Mentone was not (see Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. T. Moggridge, 19 June [1864] and n. 6, and Moggridge 1864, p. 252). CD cited Moggridge’s description of the orchid in ‘Fertilization of orchids’, p. 145 (Collected papers 2: 142), and Orchids 2d ed., pp. 52, 292–3.
4
For CD’s interest in Ophrys apifera, see the letter to H. E. Darwin, [14–21 April 1866] and n. 3.
5
In Orchids 2d ed., p. 27, CD referred to Moggridge’s description of Serapias cordigera (the heart-flowered serapias; Moggridge 1864, p. 258). See also Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. T. Moggridge, 19 June [1864] and plate facing p. 248.
6
See letter from H. E. Darwin, [c. 10 May 1866] and n. 5.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5084,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5084