RECORD: Darwin, C. R. [1861-1862]. Draft of Orchids, p. 270. Sothebys-1988-5796-79. Edited by John van Wyhe (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed and edited by John van Wyhe 10.2023. RN1

NOTE: See record in the Darwin Online manuscript catalogue, enter its Identifier here. From the auction description: "DARWIN, CHARLES. Autograph manuscript signed, 1 page folio, [no place], 27 February 1877, entitled "Fertilization of Orchids"; very slight scattered spotting, hinged to a larger piece of paper.
A RARE ORCHID. In this manuscript, Darwin discusses a peculiar orchid of the genus Cyprifalicum, a form which "differs from all other orchids far more than any other two do from each other." Darwin proceeds to provide an explanation for the oddity of this particular orchid. He writes, "An enormous amount of extinction must have swept away a multitude of intermediate forms & left this single genus as widely differentiated, as a record of the forms & more simple state of the great Orchidean Order . . . ." A discussion of the stigma and various other portions of the genus Cyprifalicum are presented by Darwin in order to explain the fertilization process. This is most likely a fragment from his publication, Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species (1877), an offshoot from his earlier publication Fertilization of Orchids (1862)". Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts, and Original Drawings. December 1988. Sold for USD 4,400.

The text ofd the draft corresponds to Orchids, p. 270, the starte of Chapter VIII.

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Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

File last updated 31 October, 2023