1862 i88i] MELASTOMADS 297 



which I published. When you read it, do not fear " punishing " Letter 623 

 me if I deserve it. 



Adios. I am come here to rest, which I much want. 



Whenever you have occasion to write, pray tell me 

 whether you have Rhododendron Boothii from Bhootan, with 

 a smallish yellow flower, and pistil bent the wrong way ; if so, 

 I would ask Oliver to look for nectary, for it is an abominable 

 error of Nature that must be corrected. I could hardly 

 believe my eyes when 1 saw the pistil. 



To Asa Gray. Letter 624 



Jan. i Qth [1863]. 



I have been at those confounded Melastomads again ; 

 throwing good money (i.e. time) after bad. Do you remember 

 telling me you could see no nectar in your Rhexia ? well, I 

 can find none in MonocJicetum, and Bates tells me that the 

 flowers are in the most marked manner neglected by bees 

 and lepidoptera in Amazonia. Now the curious projections 

 or horns to the stamens of Monochcetum are full of fluid, and 

 the suspicion occurs to me that diptera or small hymenoptera 

 may puncture these horns like they puncture (proved since 

 my orchid book was published) the dry nectaries of true 

 Orchis. I forget whether RJiexia is common ; but I very 

 much wish you would next summer watch on a warm day 

 a group of flowers, and see whether they are visited by small 

 insects, and what they do. 



To I. A. Henry. Letter 625 



Down, Jan. 2Oth [1863]. 



. . . You most kindly permit me to mention any point 

 on which I want information. If you are so inclined, I am 

 curious to know from systematic experiments whether Mr. 

 D. Beaton's statement that the pollen of two shortest anthers 

 of scarlet Pelargonium * produce dwarf plants, in comparison 

 with plants produced from the same mother-plant by the 

 pollen of longer stamens from the same flower. It would aid 

 me much in some laborious experiments on Melastomads. I 

 confess I feel a little doubtful ; at least, I feel pretty nearly 



1 See Animals and Plants, Ed. II., Vol. II , p. 150, for a brief account 

 of Darwin's experiments on this genus. Also loc. cit., p. 338 (note), 

 for a suggested experiment. 



