My dear Henry
You ought not to have missed Abby 1 – as you were going coastways. Tell me how long you stay in Devonshire 2 for Ly I 3 is going down to Abby in a fortnight I believe & you may then pay her a visit in your way back. They have sent me lately a pale tall stalked yellow Iris with sambucine smell, not the true sambucina however & I expect daily the fimbriata or Sinensis do you know it?
I should like to see Mr Fishs garden. I once passed through Sidmouth & thought it very pretty, but was disappointed in the road between it & Lyme 4 which shows you nothing of the Coast, from Lyme to Charmouth is very striking –
Has Mr Fish any Mesembs or other fat plants? I am now out about the true Yucca gloriosa I believe ours at Abby is superba. I am trying to get all of them.
Pray get Pince’s [sic] catalogue at Exeter he has a pretty good garden & you might find some things to take on your way back. There are some plants (vitex incisa, Convol. linearis, Agave bromeliæfolia, Mylocarium ligustrinum, Callicarpa americana) that I cannot find any where.
N. Poeticus 5 in Dorset is a grand discovery I never saw it nearer than the Alps – Is Orchis laxiflora a good species I doubt it. I have just seen Muscari dubium – a mere variety of romanum. Do you wish for a book of Mosses like what I sent to Hooker 6 as I can get another from Jacquin 7 he says they are eine ausgezeichnete sammlung von Musci aus Œsterreich und der Lombardei, von einem meiner ehemaligen Schüler Dr Garavaglia in Pavia. 8
Yrs
W F S
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