s
fertile Greensand strata, and are covered with fern, broom, gorse, and
heath. Here it was a particular pleasure of his to wander, and his
tall figure, with his broad-brimmed Panama hat and long stick like an
alpenstock, sauntering solitary and slow over our favourite walks, is
one of the pleasantest of the many pleasant associations I have with the
place."

LETTER 715. TO T.H. FARRER (Lord Farrer).

(715/1. The following note by Lord Farrer explains the main point of
the letter, which, however, refers to the "bloom" problem as well as to
Coronilla:--

"I thought I had found out what puzzled us in Coronilla varia: in most
of the Papilionaceae, when the tenth stamen is free, there is nectar in
the staminal tube, and the opening caused by the free stamen enables the
bee to reach the nectar, and in so doing the bee fertilises the plant.
In Coronilla varia, and in several other species of Coronilla, there is
no nectar in the staminal tube or in the tube of the corolla. But
there are peculiar glands with nectar on the outside of the calyx, and
peculiar openings in the tube of the corolla through which the proboscis
of the bee, whilst entering the flower in the usual way and dusting
itself with pollen, can reach these glands, thus fertilising the plant
in getting the nectar. On writing this to Mr. Darwin, I received the
following characteristic note.

The first postscript relates to the rough ground behind my house, over
which he was fond of strolling. It had been ploughed up and then allowed
to go back, and the interest was to watch how the numerous species of
weeds of cultivation which followed the plough gradually gave way in the
struggle for existence to the well-known and much less varied flora of
an English common.")

Bassett, Southampton, August 14th, 1873.

You are the man to conquer a Coronilla. (715/2. In a former letter to
Lord Farrer, Darwin wrote: "Here is a maxim for you, 'It is disgraceful
to be beaten by a Coronilla.'") I have been looking at the half-dried
flowers, and am prepared to swear that you have solved the mystery.
The difference in the size of the cells on the calyx under the vexillum
right down to the common peduncle is conspicuous. The flour still
adhered to this side; I see little bracteae or stipules apparently with
glandular ends at the base of the calyces. Do these secrete? It seems
to me a beautiful case. When I saw the odd shape of the base of the
vexillum, I concluded that it must