From Asa Gray 1 June 1857
Cambridge, Mass. U.S.A.
June 1st, 1857
My Dear Darwin
Yours of the 9th. came last week.
I do not wonder you were somewhat puzzled to make out just the 49 species spoken of in my note p. 387.1 It was a clear mistake my speaking of 6 species of Carex as belonging to 1st & 2d heads—as evidently there are only three of the 1st head and none of the 2d.
I mail you a fresh copy of the article, with the 49 species I must have had in view marked with a — in pencil.—
The 49 or rather 50, species belong to 46 genera,—which is as you would have it.—
I did not know at all that you suspected disjoined species to belong to small genera & small orders, as a general thing.
The monotypic genera of these 50 species are— Brasenia, Hippuris, Cryptotænia, Crantzia, Phryma, Monotropa (in the restricted sense) Anacharis(?) Hemicarpha(?), Zannichellia(?), Camptosorus.
The only good-sized genera are Anemone, Silene (S. Antirrhina is diffused as a weed & by the agency of man?) Cerastium, Potentilla, Plantago, Primula, Veronica, Carex, Poa, Festuca, Adiantum.
My 76 disjoined species belong to 34 families,—and I cannot see that they incline to belong to small families. diag 15 are Gramineæ which form of our Flora.
18 ’ Cyperaceæ ’ ’
The 1 Leguminosa & 1 Composita are as you would like; but that is because these orders are remarkable for their species being of narrow range.
3 are Rosaceæ
2 ’ Scrophulariaceæ (the 1 orchid is to be erased)
3 ’ Ranunculaceæ. &c &c
6 ’ Umbelliferæramme
As to our trees, what proportion have flowers more or less separated. Number the orders on p. 400— 1. Magnoliaceæ, and so on. 2 And append diag p.= polygamous more or less. m = monœcious d = diœcious.
separated flowers 1. Magnoliaceæ 0 2 — 0 3 — 0 4 — 0 5 — 1 p 6 — 8 p. 7 — 2 d 8 — 0 9 — 1 m 10 — 1 p 11 — 2 p. d. 12 0 13 0 14 1-p 15 1 p 16 0 17 — 7 p. d. 18 — 2 p 19 — 8 p. d. 20 — 1 m 21 — 9 m 22 — 21 m. 23 — 5 m. 24 7 d 25 Coniferæ— 18 m. d.ramme
Out of 132 trees, those with separated flowers more or less—are 95.—and for the greater part very decidedly separated.
I must think it by chance—that your introduced plants are in so near the proportion by families that the indigenous species are.3 diag Indigenous Introduced Our Compositæ — nearly .
’ Cyperaceæ — [ ]
’ Gramineæ —
’ Leguminosæ —
’ Rosaceæ — . &
’ Orchidaceæ – 0
’ Ranunculaceæ — but ’ Labiatæ — !ramme
I am very glad if my published notes or my jottings are of any use to you.
This is my season of greatest and most distracting occupation. I shall have no article in the July no. of Sill. Journal—nor in the Sept. either, I fear.
I wrote—or rather despatched a letter to you last week——4 Watson’s memoranda will be sent back to you a week or two hence—5
Ever Yours | A. Gray
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Gray, Asa. 1856–7. Statistics of the flora of the northern United States. American Journal of Science and Arts 2d ser. 22: 204–32; 23: 62–84, 369–403.
Summary
Comments on species with disjoined ranges; does not feel, despite CD’s expectations, that they tend to belong to small families.
Gives the proportion of U. S. trees in which the sexes are separate [see Natural selection, p. 62].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-2098
- From
- Asa Gray
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Cambridge, Mass.
- Source of text
- DAR 8: 47bA
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 2098,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-2098.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 6