To D. F. Nevill   11 September [1874]

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Sept. 11th

Dear Lady Dorothy Nevill

I send this afternoon the Drosera to the Ry. packed up as carefully as we can, & I sincerely hope it may reach you safely.— It has interested me in a high degree & differs in one important respect from any other species which I have seen.1 I hope that you will not consider me unreasonable when I tell you that I cut off for microscopical examination, one leaf in bud, one young leaf, & a portion of two old leaves. But I cut them from the middle so that they will hardly be missed.

I beg leave to remain | Your Ladyships | Most truly obliged | Charles Darwin

U. Montana just arrived in excellent state.2 | C.D.

LS

Postmark: SP 11 74

1
CD evidently returned the specimen of Drosera dichotoma that he had received from Nevill (see letter to D. F. Nevill, 7 September 1874). Drosera dichotoma is a synonym of D. binata, the forked-leaf sundew. In Insectivorous plants, p. 283, CD noted in D. binata the ‘remarkable peculiarity’ of tentacles on the backs of the leaves.
2
CD had requested a specimen of Utricularia montana, an epiphytic bladderwort, in his letter to Nevill of 7 September 1874. Utricularia montana is a synonym of U. alpina.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9632,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9632