Sir James Edward Smith, Saxmundham, Suffolk, to William Roscoe, Toxteth Park, Liverpool, [Lancashire]

Summary

Pestered with many letters, Roscoe's excepted. After returning to Norwich he will spend a fortnight finishing fourth volume of "English Flora", interrupted by Muscial Festival, and ending with a trip to Holkham where they expect to see Roscoe; he does not want to go later and encounter shooting parties and hopes to meet "a most amiable & accomplished young man of fortune, Mr Edw[ar]d Lombe, MP" [(1799-1852), landowner and philanthropist], who longs to know Roscoe.

Pleased Roscoe's ["Monandrian Plants"] has succeeded so well. Agrees with the character of 'Matonia' but discusses difficulty of establishing it over the 'Renealmia' established by Linnaeus, which he thought an 'Alpinia', and the new 'Renealmia' established by [Robert] Brown. Rejoices that in parting with 'Matonia' they can also legally get rid of 'Elettaria'; Decandolle, "with all his wrong-headed zeal", will not attempt to uphold this, though 'Elettaria' is an old name as he professes to keep all of Linnaeus' names, as 'Renealmia' is.

Thanks for Roscoe's sympathies. Suffering from rheumatism in his eyes, as last winter. Must soon continue work on "Flora Graeca". Never published a figure of 'Costus speciosus', though Jacquin has it in his "Icones [plantarum rariorum]", and he published the characters in "Linnean Transactions" vol 1[see RelatedMaterial below]. Roscoe's gardeners will make 'Costus speciosus' and 'Alpinia malaccensis' flower with great heat, drought, or starvation.

Letter details

Record number

LINNEAN1309

From

Sir James Edward Smith

To

William Roscoe

Date

25 Aug 1827

Sent from

Saxmundham, Suffolk

Sent to

Liverpool, Lancashire

Source of text

GB-110/JES/COR/17/146, The Linnean Society of London

Language

English

Contributor

The Linnean Society of London[View Ɛpsilon collection]

Also published in The Correspondence of Sir James Edward Smith, The Linnean Society's Archive Catalogue.

• Sir James Edward Smith
• William Roscoe