Abbotsbury ^<1>
Tuesday

My dear Henry

On my arrival here I found many new things some of the oddest weeds in the garden as Di – prolific in abundance – a boragineous plant coming up every where which I do not know tho I have seen it some where abroad – the flower is black – calyx inflated – seeds like Lycopsis – Is it Onosma echioides? tho it is not like an onosma or an echium – By luck the very plant I consider as Brassica eruca comes up as a weed with a white flower very different from the Corfu pink one Linaria alpina spreads itself & is welcome as it is very pretty – it is the only alpine that succeeds here. Salvia angustifolia bids fair to be as great a weed as it was in Giardino de’ Semplici whence it came. Colutea cineata is very pretty – I send you another Dracoceph. peltatum I believe – & Stachys Iberica which seems only a red recta – do you know S. annua common about Florence Vicia atropurpurea & bithynica are fine & a pea from Sicily D^r Buckland ^<2> gave me I believe L. Sativus – blue.

I send you Anchusa Milleri perhaps you do not know I have a new & rather goodlooking Serratula as I believe it to be, out. The great beauty of the garden now are the Cistus & Dianthus tribes & the tree Lupins which are finer & sweeter than ever I saw them. In spite of winter 3 Begonias have come up again 2 in places where I should have thought they could have done nothing but die – under the lower terrace wall which was for many days so hard frozen you could not put a spade into it – a Verbena in the same place – & Anthyllis B Jovis. On looking over a large pot of weeds apparently judge my surprise at finding a handsome Serapias cordigera in full flower & from some leaves I expect other orchideæ for next year – Commelina japonica is up in the open ground – If you call on Emily ^<3> or M^rs Campbell ^<4> you may see my Astragalus virgatus which I sent in bud to blow in water – I have several Alliums one I consider as subhirsutum because it is not at all hirsute but I cannot spare a specimen the new white muscari has one capsule it is long not 3 heartshaped which the others (& the new black) are. I found a purplish orobanche today just like the common Italian but scentless – now in Holland I found quite a different one (brown) with the clove smell – can you tell me the rights of them?

I stay till the beginning of next week so you can write to me –

Y^r Aff^te
W F S

There is come up among the seeds I think from Corfu a most delicate geranium coloured poppy with a fine black eye & blue anthers & prickly capsule – I have a cutleaved mallow almost apetalous bearing quantity of seed here & at Florence only today I found some little purple petals shorter than the calyx – Convolvulus [sic] bracteatus is in flower but not yet Ipomæa Siberica – Euphorbia Pityusa & another I do not distinguish I have also Pap. Caucasicum & bracteatum – Sedum Hispanicum & monregalense.

Camp. divergens is not worth sending tho pretty it is between Medium & Siberica – how odd medium should not be in the middle – Anthericum annuum is pretty – a Linaria I take to be Halepensis is just over –

Y^r
W F S

1827 Southampton, June twenty eight nine I– ^<5> Ilchester ^<6>
H. Talbot Esq^r
31. Sackville S^t
London

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Notes:

1. Abbotsbury, Dorset: home of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.

2. William Buckland (1784–1856), Dean of Westminster & scientist.

3. Amelia ‘Emily’ Matilda Murray (1795–1884), author.

4. Alicia Campbell, née Kelly, ‘Tam’ (1768–1829).

5. Lord Ilchester’s initialling of correction.

6. Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3^rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858).