Lacock Abbey
June 28
Dear Sir
I thank you for the name of Euonymus nanus <1> – I send some more of the Monocotyledon, <2> but lest it should wither before it reaches you I will annex a few words of description.
Germen acutely trigonal inferior, (wch I think is unusual in plants of this sort) – Corolla pale lilac – it is persistent, hardens & turns green. Stamina 6 – filaments very short, quite glabrous – Raceme of flowers terminal, but the shoots of the stem are so [decurlate?] & abbreviated that the flowers appear to be born on scapes & to spring directly from the root.
This plant is not a congener of Arthropodium, judging from Lindleys <3> figure. Botanical Register <4> vol. 9 pl. 709 & vol 10. 866 – For that has germen superior filaments remarkably hairy – to say nothing of the diffuse panicle & different in habit! The leaves of my plant are perennial; it is a bushy rock plant – Habitat, Cape of Good Hope?
Yours truly
H. F. Talbot
[on blank side of sheet, in Balfour’s hand:]
1866
H F Talbot
Notes:
1. See Doc. No: 09099 of 28 June 1866.
2. Vellozia. See Doc. No: 09099.
3. Prof John Lindley (1799–1865), botanist.
4. Edward’s botanical register . . . consisting of coloured figures of plants cultivated in British gardens, accompanied by their history . . . (London: J. Ridgway; text by J. B. Ker-Gawler, 1815–1828, and by Prof John Lindley (1799–1865), botanist, 1829–1847). The Register was started by the botanical illustrator Sydenham Teak Edwards (1769?–1819).