f?!c! - Rollins College Experiential Learning

June 16, 1922 Naples. "Under seperate cover I send you a
flower-treasure of Billbergia Liboniana. The scape
is upright as in B. pyramidalis and your B. thyrsoidea
(Aechmea Mariae-Reginae). The latter you can also
use in your cross-breeding. I wish I could obtain
the real B. Mariae-Reginae which is in gull beauty
for about 6 weeks to 2 months. The flower scape
of it grows from 2 to 3 feet tall and is a most
magnificent sight. You should take the whole genus
Aechmea with its sub-genera in your hands and
hybridize. Unfortunately I have no literature on the
subject with me here. There are many beautiful
things, such as Vriesia tesselata, V. fenestralis,
V. hieroglyphica, V. splendens, Tillandsia Lindenii,
Guzmania musaica and thousand others. Carlos
Wershli(?) discovered a lot of new and most magnificent
species in the mountains of Costa Rica, which were
described by Mez in some of the botanical periodicals.
He sent me a lot last spring--40 specimens in 25
different species--but they were all ------- to death
(by those parasitical lot of cranks in the ---- of
horticulture in Washington) that not one arrived
alive. As soon as I can afford it I shall build a
special shade house for Bromeliads....... ." More
complaining about the Federal Plant Board and its
restrictions on importing plants. Asks for a source
of celluloid sheets (ivory-white) for cutting up into
labels. "Received a dozen Watsonia roses and W. L.
Ardernei (O'Brieni) from Mr. Fletcher at Orlando,
and so far nine have pushed up good vigorous growth.
.... My cannas are still a glorious sight. Almost
all of the 75 different ------ sorts are continually
in bloom. The brown leaved one you gave me is
C. King Humbert (raised, I think, like many others,
by Carl Poenger of Naples, Italy . I have about
1000 fine seeds of Ravenala madxgascariensis and about
as many of Dictosperma rubra. Several thousand
seedlings of Oreodoxa regina (?) (Florida variety),
hundreds of Cocus plumosa & C. flexuosa, quite a number
of Martinegia cargotefolii(?), six little fellows of
Acrocomia media, two of ---------- . I also have many
seedlings of Poinciana regia, --------- , Phyllanthus
------ , Schinus(?) terebinthifolia(?), and seven
nice plants of Hydnocarpus Kurzii(?) and two of --------.
Raised 500 fine plants of crotons and lots of
hibiscus, aralia, etc. ... .I1 I liebe die Einsamkeit."
..... Bamboos do not do half as well as in Orange Co.
..... I hope that you may be very successful in your
hybridizing work. Do you have in your collection
Billbergia zebrina and B. Liboniana? Perhaps I can
send you a few plants--one of each. .... 11
May 15, 1922(out of order) Living in Naples in the Bamboo Cottage
belonging to a "Canadian friend of mine, a winter-
sojourner ... Yes, you may send me the seed of your
hybrid Billbergia, but please give me directions how
to plant them.