Kilm. <1>
Feby 26 –
Dear Talbot
Arabis rosea will be ready for you in a day or two – how shall I send it? if yr friend Dr Hooker <2> means to have it figured perhaps it had better go direct to him –
The plant from which the specimen was taken having been forced in the Greenhouse was gone by – or you would have heard from me sooner – this is in the open ground under a hand glass & is much handsomer – but I can tell you nought about it – save & except that I think I had the Seed from Wm Strangways <3> – marked Sicily.
Such a breadth of crocus I have in bloom – in one bed 50 feet by 10 – ’twould do anyone’s heart good to behold them on a sunny day – at the risque of opthalmia & a temporary fit of Jaundice.
Have you seen Calochortus macrocarpus I have the <illegible> bulbs, which I am in hopes of flowering this Summer – Pray tell me if you hear of any botanical news – & remember me to Mr Lambert <4> when you chance to see him
Yours sincerely
Townshend Selwyn
Henry Talbot Esqre MP
Sackville Street
London
Notes:
1. Kilmington, Somerset.
2. Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865), Prof & botanist.
3. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
4. Aylmer Bourke Lambert (1761–1842), botanist.