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Correspondence of Asa Gray and G. W. Clinton |
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The
Correspondence of Asa
Gray (1810-1888) and George
William Clinton (1807‑1885) 1875 January 2d 1875 Mr. Clinton Dear Sir I packed up and
sent to Prof. Asa Gray Cambridge Mass all of my brother's collections &
among other things a number of bound copies of the Mosses of Wilkes Expl.
expedition ‑ by writing to Prof. Gray you can procure a copy. If any
one wishing a perfect copy of the original Musci
Alleghanienses with all the specimens perhaps
I can furnish one ‑ for about $40.‑ respectfully
yours J. Sullivant [Recd Jan. 4
& wrote him ["I'll take it, 1 ‑ 15 Feb." crossed out]
NOTE: this is probably the exsiccat. Vol. 10 (205) [A
38] [printed
stationary: Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass.] Hon. George W.
Clinton My dear Sir, Dr. Gray asks me
to say that the larger set of Dr. Palmer's plants will be retained for you
and forwarded whenever you wish, payment to be made at your convenience. As Dr. Palmer is
no botanist, his collection was made without much judgement and contains the
most common as well as the rarest things. Still I think it is well worth the
price ‑ especially as the specimens have been named after a pretty
careful examination by us. With the
compliments of the season Yours very truly Sereno Watson [Recd Dec. 28.
Jan. 5 sent him draft on New York for $53.76] Vol. 10 (208) [A
31, 32] [printed
stationary: Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass.] Jan. 6th, 1874 [year
printed: actually 1875] My Dear Sir, I have your favor
of the 4th inst. enclosing your check for $53.76 in payment for Set I of
Palmer's Floridan Collection ‑ for which I thank you in Dr. Palmer's
behalf. I forward the
specimens by Express today in two bundles, & add herewith a ticket in
correction of determination of No. 52. I shall be happy to do whatever I can
for you at any time. At any rate do not hesitate to ask me. Prof. Brown was
here yesterday & Prof. Eaton a few days ago. Money has been raised in
California for the printing of their Flora, & efforts will be made to get
it out in the next year or so. There has a good deal of work, you know,
already been done upon it, both by Dr. Gray & myself, besides what Prof.
Brown has been able to do. As for your
Californian unnamed plants, if they are Kellogg & Harford's things, there
is a chance of a list being printed during the summer. Prof. Eaton has had
them worked up with some care during the winter by one of his students, and
proposes his publishing the list as a graduation thesis. See sample sheet
of the "Indep." of N. Am. botany, of which you have perhaps heard
as being on the stocks [stacks]. Yours Very Truly Sereno Watson Vol. 10 (213) [A
20] [United States Postal
Card. Feb. 10 postmark [1875] To Hon. Geo. W.
Clinton, Buffalo, New York Herbarium Cambridge, Feby. 9th, 1875 221. Hamelia
patens. Chapman, 79. 385. Conradina
canescens, Gray see Proc. Am.
Acad. June 1870, p. 295. (Calamintha canescens, T. & G., Chapman, 318.) Yours very Truly Sereno Watson [Recd Feb. 11] Conradina in the Lamiaceae, or Mint Family:
the genus was erected by A. Gray. There are four species in it. Conradina
canescens (T. & G.) A. Gray, is a shrub less than a half meter in height
found in pinelands, the upper Gulf coast region, Florida and Alabama,
flowering in the spring (Small, 1933). Hamelia is in the Rubiaceae, or Madder
Family. Hamelia patens Jacq. is a shrub or small tree growing in hammocks of
the southern peninsula of Florida and the Florida Keys. The calyx, corolla,
inflorescence branches and hypanthium are all red (Small, 1933). ] Vol. 10 (219) [A
11] [printed
stationary: Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass.] Feby 25th, 1875 My Dear Sir, The scrap you
sent is of Eugenia buxifolia, Willd., or at least what Chapman
considered such. We retained no
specimen of 287. It is probably Coriopsis gladiata, or may possibly be C.
nudata ‑ you can readily determine which. There ought to be no
mistaking Euxo..us viridis, which is common enough. I do not know which your
Amaranthus hybrids may be. We have no authentic specimen of it. I have
nothing to say about 547 or 507. Yours very truly Mr. Sereno Watson Hon. G. W.
Clinton Buffalo, N.Y. [Recd Feb. 28] Eugenia is in the
Myrtaceae, or Myrtle Family. Eugenia buxifolia (Sw.) Willd. is a shrub or
small tree, called the Spanish‑stopper, of the coastal hammocks of
south peninsular Florida and the Keys (Small, 1933). Coriopsis is in the
Carduaceae of Small (1933). Coriopsis
gladiata Walt. of swamps and low pinelands, Coastal Plain, Florida to
Mississippi and North Carolina, flowering in the fall. Coreopsis nudata Nutt.
is distinguished by its thick, rush‑like leaves rather than the flat
blades of C. gladiata. Vol. 10 (221) [A
6] [United States
Postal Card, March 3 cancelled] To Hon. Geo. W.
Clinton, Buffalo, New York Herbarium, Cambridge March 2, 1875 My Dear Sir. Cannot help you
on 603, as we saved no specimen. Don't know why there need have been a
mistake. Though Panicum
dichotomum was the commonest of all things. There is a big pile here that
passes for it, of very different looking things, making it exceedingly
variable. Yours very truly Sereno Watson [Recd March] Vol. 10 (223) [A
1] [United States Postal
Card, cancelled March 6] Herbarium,
Cambridge March 6, 1875 My dear Sir, Your scrap
belongs to No. 403. Avicennia nitida, Jacq. Had you "63
Hibiscus ‑o" It is a Kosteletzkya, perhaps K. althaeifolia. Will
keep your request in mind. Know of nothing now ‑ unless you want Austrian
things by way of Exchange. Yours very truly Sereno Watson [Recd March 8] Avicennia nitida
Jacq. is in the Avicenniaceae, or Black‑mangrove Family. There is only
one genus in the family, with three species. The A. nitida is a shrub or
tree, growing on sandy shores and coastal hammocks of the Coastal Plain from
Florida to Texas. Note in a letter above, Clinton's request for mangrove
specimens. Kosteletzkya is in the Malvaceae, or Mallow Family. The common
name for this genus is the Fen‑roses. K. althaeifolia (Chapm. A. Gray has pink petals , growing in
swamps, hammocks on the Coastal Plain, Florida to Texas and North Carolina
(Small, 1933). Hibiscus is in this family. Volume 11 (4) [J LETTER NOT IN ORDER ‑ UNABLE TO LOCATE Volume 11 (5) [J
281] [United Stated
Postal Card, cancelled March 18 (1875)] To Hon. George W.
Clinton, Buffalo, New York Herbarium, Cambridge March 17, 1875 My Dear Sir, Palmer's sets
were all disposed of long ago. "Dr. Karl
Keck, Aistersheim, Upper Austria", is the botanist who desires to
exchange European things, including "our rarest species", for
plants from Southern & western States particularly. I have written him
& you may hear from him ‑ or, you can address him yourself. Dr.
& Mrs. Gray left today for the south, till 1st May. Yours truly Sereno Watson. [Recd] Volume 11 (17) [J
262] [United States
Postal Card, cancelled April 10 [1875] To Hon. George W.
Clinton, Buffalo, New York Herbarium, Cambridge April 9, 1875 My Dear Sir, Prof. Aighey's
address I suppose to be "University of Nebraska, Lincoln,
Nebraska", Yours truly Sereno Watson Dr. Gray was at last
accounts (a week ago) in Florida, doing nicely as far as we can gather from
his scrappy notes. [no received note] Volume 11 (24) [J LETTER OUT OF ORDER ‑ UNABLE TO LOCATE Volume 11 (25) [J
255] [printed stationary,
Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass.] May 14, 1875 My Dear Sir, If your specific
name may rightly be considered as one word, the two numbers being united by a
hyphen, I suppose there is nothing in the laws of botanical nomenclature to
exclude it. Still such names are not looked upon with favor, though
occasionally proposed. You remember Wood's "Brevoo.... Ida‑Maria"
and how Dr. Gray in referring the species to Brodiaea [?] did not hesitate to
drop the specific name also. He himself made an "Astogalus Anther‑Schottei,"
which however must be united with an earlier species. The worst thing of the
kind that I recall is Bailton's genus "Asagraia", which I certainly
hope will never be taken up. I would not
myself propose such a name, though I would not feel justified in rejecting
one once published, without some other good reason. As to the validity of the
publication of a species in the reports of the N.Y. Regents, I have no doubt
whatever. It is perfectly legitimate, in my opinion, Yours very truly Sereno Watson P.S. In my
Revision of Ceanothus sent you, please correct a couple of typographical
oversights. On first page read C. Americanus, & on the next, C.
ovatus, Desf., instead of Bigelow. S. W. Volume 11 (55) [J 324] [United States Postal Card, cancelled Aug. 16, 1875] To Hon. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y. Have you got your box from MacOwan? I offered to look after it, [way] charges &c. But getting no
response from Taylor & [S.] ‑ suppose it was sent on to you direct.
A. G. [Recd Aug. 17] Volume 11 (58) [J 217] [United States Postal Card, cancelled Aug. 20, 1875] To Hon. G. W. Clinton, Buffalo, N.Y. I find your box has gone on. The clerk is to send bill of charge to
me. (See "Nation" cf. pg. 12) A.G. |
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