WCP438

[1]

Washington, ^{D. C.} Feb. 23rd. 1887¹

My dear Annie²

I got your two last letters together. The first was delayed at New York because you did not put D.C. after Washington. There are perhaps 100 towns, cities, and villages named Washington in the U. States and also Washington Territory, & they will not send letters unless the name of the State is put after the name of the city. Remember this whenever you write to me but for the future you must write as at first to the agent at Boston. Mass..

Yesterday I went for a long walk with Prof. L. Ward³ to see the place where the Comptonia asplenifolia grows, but it is quite a shrub with long roots and would never live if dug up now besides being too large to send. I will try to get some seeds if I meet with it again, but it is rare here. The two ferns [2] you name are not to be had, as the only one that grows here is deciduous and not common. I got however some more of the little Asplenium ebeneum and also two small plants of the Aspidium acrostichoides which I sent you from Boston. Also some more of the trailing Arbutus, Epigaea repens, two or three small plants of the winter-green Pyrola rotundifolia, some Partridge berry Mitchella repens — the small round leaved creeping plant, and some fine plants of the Chimaphila maculata sent last time. There are also 3 plants of the alpine Eucalyptus which we had a Grays. I got them from the Greenhouses of the Agricultural Department here. Its name is Euc.[Eucalyptus] coccifera. These you must pot carefully in peat and sand spreading the roots out well and keeping them shaded in the greenhouse for a week or two till they recover. The little Asplenums [3] and most of the other plants had better be treated the same way. It was warm & fine yesterday now it is snowing hard. I enclose some seeds I got of a very beautiful small shrub which perhapsMiss Jekyll⁴ would like to grow. It has large clusters of drooping flowers.

You must have had a terrible winter and I expect lots of things will be killed. The glory pea will have to be cut down to near the ground most likely, & all the other things that are partly killed had better be served the same. Here notwithstanding the warm sun & fine weather half the time we have no crocuses out yet though some of the buds of the flowering shrubs are appearing. I have one or two ^more lectures arranged for, but it [is] dreadfully disappointing work. I enclose another newspaper article. I also enclose [4] a letter and a newspaper cutting for Willie.⁵ You seem to have equally bad luck with me, as regards the house. I found I had so many useless things that I left my portmanteau full of clothes, my fur-coat, my picnic basket & a lot of books at Boston only bringing here my trunk and bag. I ought to have had a larger trunk with divisions & put every thing into it as they charge a dollar each parcel whether large or small for collecting & delivering baggage, & Americans have enormous trunks. I am very well so far. I caught one more cold at a very sudden change of temp. but had a hot bath & stayed in the house all next day & so cured it. A real hot bath with a warm room is fine for a cold. Hoping you are all well, with love to Violet⁶ & remembrances to all, I remain your affectionate Husband

A. R. Wallace [signature]