London <1>
March 4th
My Dear Sir
I have desired my banker to pay the sum <2> mentioned to the Norwich Yarmouth Bank - If they make any mistake, & it is not received I trust you will let me know.
If you figure the Arabis rosea <3> (which I sent this morning) I hope you will give me a copy of the plate, and of the letterpress belonging to it, to send to the gentleman who furnished me with the specimens <4> -
Today I saw in the Hortl Society's <5> garden Acacia decurrens in flower, having stood the winter in the open ground (not against a wall) and not protected by a mat. A proof of a mild winter.
I send you a plant that flowered in my greenhouse lately, which I wish to know if you can name with certainty. It is very sweetscented. Leaves long very narrow and ciliated. It is conjectured by Lindley <6> to be the Hyacinthus spicatus. <7> Sibthorp. <8>
The history of the plant is this. In April 1826 I gathered its seeds, already quite ripe, in the island of Zante, and not having seen the flower, sowed them with care when I returned home. The plants grew so slowly that they are now in flower for the first time. I have a great interest in knowing its name, having gathered it in so remote & beautiful a spot.
Yours most truly
H. F. Talbot.
Notes:
1. This letter is a reply to Doc. No: 02622.
2. See Doc. No: 02607, and Doc. No: 02613.
3. See Doc. No: 02586.
4. Rev Townshend Selwyn (1783-1853), botanist, Vicar of Kilmington, Somerset, and Canon of Gloucester. [See Doc. No: 02611].
5. Horticultural Society of London.
6. Prof John Lindley (1799-1865), botanist.
7. See Doc. No: 00279.
8. John Sibthorp (1758-1796), author of the Flora Gręca.