Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society [George Bentham], 21 Regent Street, London and 'List of articles contained in boxes HS64 & 65'

Title

Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society [George Bentham], 21 Regent Street, London and 'List of articles contained in boxes HS64 & 65'

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/7/1/1/58

Date

3-26 Jul 1840

Scope & content

Written from Guatemala [Guatemala City, Guatemala]

Letter No 43

He sent two boxes on 3 Jul to Messrs Nicholson & Wright [merchants] in Belize, and encloses a list of the contents; he is planting in boxes 'such plants to take home with me on my return, as I know will not carry well in the ordinary way, or such as do not readily seed', including oaks, as it is the only way of obtaining the species in Europe; he has returned from a trip along the cordillera [mountains] to Quezaltenango [Quetzaltenango, Guatemala] with 'a few, but choice things', which he will send as soon as the seeds are dried; the most prized finding was a new species of the 'pendulous-flowered plant' resembling Tigridia, of which he collected about 350 bulbs; if they want more cones of Pinus oocarpa, Pinus occidentalis and Ayacahuite pine, he can find them in December

'List of articles contained in boxes HS64 & 65'. Signed 'Guatemala, July 3rd 1840. Theodor Hartweg'. Annotated at the top 'copy'. Comprises lists of seeds and epiphytes sent to England:

List of seeds comprises cones of Pinus occidentalis ('from the mountains of Santiago [Cerro Santiago, Guatemala]') and a new species of pine ('60-100 feet high, from the mountains and ravines of Canales and the village of Chinautla [Guatemala] near Guatemala, and on the cumbre of Chuacus [Chuacus, Guatemala] near Salama [Guatemala]') and Viburnum ('from the mountains of Santa Cruz near Salama')

List of epiphytes, numbered (110-122), includes a species of Epidendrum ('mountains of Salama, on rocks'), a species of Oncidium ('Medio Monte [Guatemala]'), an unnamed species ('new & splendid, from the cumbre de Chuacus near Salama'), a species of Stanhopea ('Medio Monte') and two species of Maxillaria ('these two species are so alike that I do not know which the real aromatica [Lycaste aromatica] is') [here the list includes 8 more plants]

Hartweg's accounts for 17 Jun-16 Jul 1840 comprise 'monthly allowance' $50, 'wages of mozo [servant]' $10, 'keeping of three beasts' $11.2, 'shoeing' 7s and 'two boxes, HS64 & 65, matting &c' $5.2, and 'received in cash' $100 from Messrs de Aycinena [Pedro & Ignacio de Aycinena, merchants in Guatemala] ('note. A receipt has been given for $200 in order to include $100, which have been received by me in Coban [Coban, Guatemala] through Messrs Klee, Skinner & Co [merchants in Guatemala]

Level

Item

Extent

5 page letter (2 sheets)

Is part of

RHS archive: plant collector papers

Repository

Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library

Copyright

Royal Horticultural Society

Credit Line

RHS Lindley Collections

Usage terms

Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)