Darwin-Hooker Letters : Letter from Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. on 6 Oct [1862]

Darwin, C. R.

Darwin-Hooker Letters

Thanks for opinion on Drosera. After working for a time on a subject he is absolutely incapable of judging its value. Has found a case in Lythrum of a necessary triple alliance between three hermaphrodites; the strangest case of propagation recorded among plants or animals. Asks for L. thymifolia to see how a trimorphic form passes or graduates into dimorphic. Questions Hooker on Linum perenne. Has found 33 hybrids in one field between Verbascum thapsus and V. lychnitis. The perfect series of varieties would have justified running the species together, but every one of the intermediate forms is sterile.