Thanks for Smith's letter on his rare 'Fenillia'. Safely received seeds from Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania].
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The Linnean Society of London Collection
The scientific and personal correspondence of James Edward Smith (1759-1828), purchaser of the collections of Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) and founder of the Linnean Society of London in 1788, was presented to the Linnean Society between 1857 and 1872 by his widow Pleasance Smith (1773-1877). Since then, it has been complemented by additional series. The collection was catalogued, conserved, and digitised from 2010 to 2013, thanks to the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Letters can be searched through Ɛpsilon, with links to images and summaries available on the Linnean Society’s Online Collections (http://linnean-online.org/smith_correspondence.html).
Thanks for Smith's letter on his rare 'Fenillia'. Safely received seeds from Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania].
Sending a copy of [Antonio] Bertoloni's "Amoenitates Italicae". Compared the collection of plants he gathered from Corfu and other islands with Bertoloni's herbarium, the best in Italy, but still has doubts which he can only clear up by consulting [John] Sibthorp's original specimens. [David] Don [(1799-1841), botanist] wants him to communicate his Ionian flora observations to Linnean Society but does not think them interesting enough. The Ionian 'Umbelliferae' are "numerous & extraordinary" and seem little known, could not even apply genera to many of them, although a copy of "Flora Graeca" in the Grand Duke's Library in Florence was helpful.
Delaying his Ionian flora paper for Linnean Society until next spring as expects to go to Paris soon. Frustrated by botanical travellers who do not mention in their "Floras" what plants chiefly abound in a district; it is not the few rare flowers that characterise a region's vegetation. Lists the plants that are strikingly abundant on Corfu: 'Phlomis fruticosa'; 'Asphodelus ramosus'; 'Ornithogalum exscapum' Tenore, thinks it the 'Ornithogalum nanum' Sibthorp; 'Geranium umbrosum' Tenore; 'Scilla maritima'; 'Lycopsis variegata'; 'Scrophularia peregrina'; 'Phalaris [ariculata]'. On island of Zante: 'Salvia triloba'; 'Hedysarum humile'; 'Hedysarum caput-galli'; 'Chrysanthemum coronarium'; 'Cynara humilis'?; 'Anthericum graecum'; 'Poterium spinosum'; and 'Cistus salicifolius'.
Has discovered two varieties that may be new species: a 'Lithospermum orientale' which on Corfu always has white flowers, and 'Trifolium stellatum', which elsewhere has pink flowers but on Corfu bright yellow. Found specimen of 'Cytinus hypocistis', it resembles a wax model more than a living plant. An 'Umbelliferae' on Zante with a triangular stem, [Antonio] Bertoloni calls it 'Laserpitium triquetrum'. 'Staehelina chamaepeuce' grows on cliffs on Zante. Did not see 'Veronica chamaedrys' on Corfu but a 'Veronica' very like it. Also found two "very singular" 'Euphorbia', one described by [Felix de Avellar] Brotero [(1744-1828)] as 'Euphorbia [pterococca]' and 'Euphorbia sexangularis' by Sprengel, the other would have been new but it was discovered by [Giovanni] Gussone [(1787-1866)] in Sicily last year.