To J. D. Hooker   [29 June 1870]1

Down. [6 Queen Anne Street, London]

Wed.

My dear Hooker

I have heard from Durando & he can send me only seeds of the Iberis.2

I have seeds of Hibiscus Africanus & of Nolana prostrata from Carters, said to be matured in Essex; now cd you give me seeds of these 2 plants raised at Kew; for this wd be some change of conditions, though not so great as I shd wish—3

It was a gt disappointment not to get to Kew on Sunday. We return home early on Friday mg—& if you have them you had better send the seeds to Down—4

yours affectly | Ch. Darwin

LS

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letters to J. D. Hooker, 25 May [1870] and [13 June 1870?], and by the dates of CD’s visit to London; the Darwins were in London from 24 June to 1 July 1870 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). The only Wednesday during this period was 29 June.
2
Gaetano Durando collected plants in Algiers. No correspondence with him has been found. See also the letter to J. D. Hooker, [13 June 1870?] and n. 2, and Cross and self fertilisation, p. 105.
3
See letter to J. D. Hooker, [13 June 1870?] and nn. 3 and 4. Hibiscus africanusis a synonym of H. trionum, bladder ketmia. Nolana prostrata is a synonym of N. paradoxa, Chilean-bellflower. CD probably refers to the seed merchants Carter, Dunnett and Beale of London (Post Office London directory 1870).
4
Sunday was 26 June 1870; the Darwins went back to Down on Friday 1 July 1870.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7251,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7251