From J. D. Hooker   26 October 1872

Oct 26/72

Dear Darwin

I trust that this will find you back & better.1

I have set on foot enquiries about Dionæa, I asked at Veitches the other day both for it & Drosera for you, but they had lost all—2 I am sure that they & we keep things far too hot & grow them too long a season— they become glaucous plants in a few weeks & then die off.

If I had time I would attend to them myself. I can’t persuade gardener to be moderate with heat and water & if I interfere the plants die directly!

I have a stock of Dionæa coming from America & shall not forget you.

Dr King3 is at home   his address is

83 Hereford Road

Westbourne Grove

Bayswater | W.

He is better, but consumptive & is off soon for Mentone4 so write at once.

Ever yrs affec | J D Hooker

1
CD had stayed in Sevenoaks from 5 to 26 October 1872 (see ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). See letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 October [1872].
2
See letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 October [1872] and n. 4. CD was interested in Dionaea muscipula (Venus fly trap: Dionaea is a monospecific genus) and Drosera filiformis (threadleaf sundew; see letter to J. D. Hooker, 4 October [1872]). Veitch & Sons was a London firm of nurserymen.
4
Mentone (now Menton) is a town on the French Riviera near the Italian border (Columbia gazetteer of the world).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8578,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8578