WCP3866

Letter (WCP3866.3785)

[1]1

H1029.

14

Ans[wered] May 1st. 1914

4.V.142

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Wimborne.

L[ieutenan]t. Col[onel]. Sir D. Prain.3F.R.S. &c.

Dear Sir David Prain

Amongst the seeds which I received from Mrs Baker who was travelling in Uganda a few years ago were two of a convolvulus4 which was said to be mauve and very rare.

I enclose a flower and some leaves and I should be much obliged if you can tell me the name & whether it is rare. [2] It is growing in a warm green-house & quickly grew up to the roof, but as it showed no sign of bloom it was cut back & again grew up to the roof & then produced one flower at Christmas time 1912. It was again cut down to the base & has again grown to the roof & is now full of bloom.

Can you tell me also whether it is hardy & if it is not would you like to have it for one of your houses?

I have also a plant of Rosa Stellata5 from New Mexico (fig— [3] ured [figured] in Miss Wilmott’s6[sic] book). It is a poor plant & this is a bad time to move it but as we may be leaving would you like to take the risk of having it sent you?

Yours very truly | p.p. A Wallace [signature]

W.G.W.7

Ipomoea palmata, Forsk8 Widely distributed in Trop[ical][?]. Africa, but many be rare locally. Offers of this plant & of Rosa stellata accepted.9

1
Written in ink in a different handwriting.
2
Written in pencil.
3
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir David Prain (1857-1944), Scottish botanist. He became Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1905.
4
Convolvulus is a genus of flowering plant.
5
Rosa Stellata is a species of rose.
6
Ellen Ann Willmott (1858-1934), English horticulturist.
7
W.G.W refers to William Greenell Wallace, ARW’s son.
8
Ipomoea palamata Forsk is a vining perennial plant, also known as Ipomoea cairica and Cairo Morning Glory.
9
Written in pencil in handwriting different to the main body of the letter. The final line of writing is obscured by tape which has been placed over the paper’s edge.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP3866.3785)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Sloyan, Victoria [2013-03-15]

Please cite as “WCP3866,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3866