To N. J. Winch   25 September 1826

My dear Sir,

I have been so much occupied this summer with reading on Botany, that I have not been very active in the field – & consequently on looking over my acquisitions & separating the duplicates I find scarcely any thing worth sending you– I have put bye for you Milium lendigerum, Vinca major & Sonchus palustris from Kent– & Menyanthes Nymphæoides from Cambridgeshire – but I wish you would favour me with something of a list to direct me in my choice as I might perhaps be able to send you some specimens of our Southern plants which you would like tho' they may not be among your desiderata which I have got – Malaxis Loeslii I have sought for in vain this year – I fear the season was too dry – I found it last year sparingly in a habitat not mentioned by Relhan – Indeed all his habitats for it are destroyed – I doubt not it will turn up again – It grows close to my Brother in Law’s house – he is a Botanist & searched for it as well as myself this year–

The only Eriophorum I ever found is angustifolium– I should feel very much obliged to you for any exotic species (you mention some from Lapland) & shall be happy to dry any you may want from our Garden– I am making as general a collection of all plants as I possibly can & any thing, even the most common, from different countries or counties are acceptable– I found Althæa hirsuta (one specimen) last year in Kent, but was prevented from searching for it this summer by bad weather – I can send you a seedling I raised from my own specimen if you wish it– I shall have some few duplicates of common plants from Holland which I can also send when I have collated them if you want them – I write now as the Oct ^r. term is so near at hand & you may perhaps have an opportunity of letting me hear from you & sending me a few plants by some friend coming to Cambridge, by whom I could also return you some– If however you know no one, I shall still be happy to receive a packet, however small, by the Coach.– You seem to doubt the genuiness of Lonicera caprifolium, which however I believe to be truly indigenous in this county – which is more than I can say for some of Relhan's plants– By the bye I hope you got a specimen of Mespilus cotoneaster & also Chara gracilis (which I have not been able to get in flower) which I sent you in a letter in the summer– I invariably poison all my plants before I put them into my herbarium – & I find it of immense advantage to rub over succulent plants with the solution before they are dried– It prevents their becoming moldy & seems to kill them sooner– I am poisoning & sticking down all Martyn’s plants also –

Believe me | most truly y ^rs. | J. S. Henslow

Endorsement by Winch:

Answered Oct ^r: 26 ^th 1829