To John Ralfs   [after 25 June 1874]1

I particularly want to know whether seeds of any kind, & whether small leaves of other plants, or portions of leaves, are ever found adhering to the leaves of Pinguicola. Should this occur, please to inform me if possible the name of the seeds & of the leaves, or send me the specimens.

The observations on seeds would perhaps be best made in one or, two months hence.

Ch. Darwin

Down Beckenham Kent. June 82

DraftS(A) incomplete

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 25 June 1874, in which he suggested Ralfs as a possible observer of Pinguicula (butterwort).
2
CD drafted this letter by amending a version in Emma Darwin’s hand of a standard letter sent out to several correspondents earlier in June (letter to ?, 8 June 1874), which was itself based on the draft letter to W. C. Marshall, 8 June [1874]. CD expanded the text of the letter to include the reference to leaves adhering to specimens of Pinguicula; previous versions refer only to seeds. Ralfs responded to this point in his letter of 9 July 1874.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 I] after del pencil ‘either side along the channel formed by the upturned edge. | I have ascertained that the leaves absorb nutritious matter from seeds placed on them; &’
1.1 seeds] after del pencil ‘in a state of nature’
1.1 , & … of leaves, 1.2] interl in CD’s hand pencil
1.2 of Pinguicula 1.3] interl in CD’s hand pencil
1.3 inform] in CD’s hand pencil above del ‘send’
1.3 if … specimens. 1.4] in CD’s hand pencil above del ‘such leaves, packed as described’
1.3 &] pencil over ‘or’
2.1 perhaps] interl in CD’s hand pencil
2.1 one or two] altered in CD’s hand from ‘one, two or three’; ‘or’ in ‘one or two’ interl pencil; ‘or three’ del pencil
3.1 Ch. Darwin] after del pencil ‘In what kind of situation does Pinguicola vulgaris grow, & what kind of other plants grow around?’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9514F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9514F