Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society [George Bentham], 21 Regent St, London

Title

Letter from Theodor Hartweg to the secretary of Horticultural Society [George Bentham], 21 Regent St, London

Record type

Archive

Original Reference

RHS/Col/7/1/1/67

Date

24 Jun 1841

Scope & content

Written from Loxa [Loja, Ecuador]

Letter No 51

He arrived four days ago, after having had difficulties in obtaining mules in Paccha [Ecuador]: 'a muleteer, whom I sent down to Santa Rosa [Ecuador] died on the road, and was carried back on his own mules without bringing my luggage', after which he was detained by 'some holidays'; he sent boxes HS90-91 on 14 Jun [annotated in the margin in another hand: 'Box 90, 91 Recd [received] Jan 15 1842'] to Guayaquil [Ecuador] to the care of Messrs Polhemus & Mickle [Charles Polhemus and Edward Mickle, American shipping agents in Ecuador], but could not send more as he had no more boxes; the boxes contain about 20 species of epiphytes ('distinct from any hitherto sent'), two species of Oncidium ('deserve to be noticed, the one with a flower stem 10-12 feet long, and producing young plants from the stem itself, that often one single plant runs up a tree 20-25 feet high. The other has a flower stem 4-6 feet high, and about three flowers on each lateral spike, from an open flower, which I have subsequently seen I take it for the long-wished-for O. crispum [Oncidium crispum]'), a Maxillaria ('with large pseudobulbs, seems also to be a prize'); the village of Paccha ('if 20 mud-built houses deserve such a name') is located on the first cordillera [mountain], about 6,000 feet high, with the temperature 65°-70°; Loxa is to the east of the 'great cordillera', 7,000-8,000 feet high, and although the temperature in the past days has not risen above 63°, he has seen several species of Epidendrum, Maxillaria and Oncidium; he has collected 'several fine things', including a Berberis, resembling Berberis crataegina, an Alstroemeria, quina blanca [Lonchocarpus lilloi]', a Calceolaria and a few pods of Brugmansia sanguinea

Hartweg's accounts for 13 May-13 Jun 1841 include 'boat hire' $10, 'a saddle mule' $45, 'keeping a saddle mule' $2.4, 'freight of luggage' $17.6 and 'two boxes, HS90 &91' $1.4 [here the list includes 3 more items]

Extent

3 page letter (1 sheet)

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)