Letter from John Forbes to Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London], Horticultural Society, Regent Street, London

Information

Title
Letter from John Forbes to Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London], Horticultural Society, Regent Street, London
Record type
Archive
Original Reference
RHS/Col/3/5/11
Date
11 Mar 1822
Scope & content
Written from Funchal, Madeira [Portugal]

An opened seal is attached to the letter

Marked at the top of the page 'No 6'. Annotated at the top of page: 'Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] received April 25 1822, and [answered] May 2 1822'

The ship arrived at Madeira on 8 Mar; he delivered his letter to Mr Veitch [Henry Veitch, British consul in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal], who kindly offered him assistance; he has visited the interior of the island to collect plants, but was unable to find many new plants; he left those he found, mainly ferns, at Veitch's garden for him to forward to England; the short stay does not enable him to collect many plants, but he has collected several insects; there are not many birds; they will leave the following morning for the Canary Islands [Spain] and will be at the Cape [Cape of Good Hope, South Africa] in about six weeks or two months; he hopes to hear from Sabine on arrival

Enclosed is a numbered list of 'plants left in Mr Veitch's garden at Madiera [Madeira, Portugal]' (specimens 1-15), including a species of Arum ('in the hedges by the roadside'), Asplenium marinum [Asplenium sulcatum] ('moist rocks, 200 feet'), species of Aspidium ('dry shady banks, 3,800 [feet]') and Blechnum boreale [identification unresolved as at Jun 2018] ('shady banks, 4,000 [feet]') [here the list includes 10 more plants]
Extent
1 page letter and 1 plant list (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)