
          Recd. July 1st [1st?]


 Lincolnton June 15th 1836


 My Dear Sir,


 I am just recovering from a 
 slight ailing which has detained me here some
 days. Unfit for any labor, I thought I would
 trouble you with a letter, which I do not call
 labor, but pleasure. I am the more disposed
 to trouble you because I have lately found a
 plant which I cannot refer to any Genus in
 our Floras. It is a submersed aquatic, resembling
 a Moss -- hs 4 hypogynous (?) Stamens, & a
 capitate subsessile Stigma. Calyx [underlined: Calyx] 4 toothed;
 Petals [underlined: Petals] none; Capsule [underlined: Capsule] in the bottom of the
 Calyx, ovate, 2 celled; with a central columella;
 Seeds [underlined: Seeds] 6-10; oblong, cured, standing erect in the
 capsule, and seem to be surrounded by a
 greenish fleshy matter. The flowers are very
 minute, & I may not be strictly accurate in
 the particulars. I send you a fragment
 that you may examine for yourself. I examined
 it but once in a fresh state. The following
 are rough sketches.
 Stam: 2 lobed. Stig: papillose } [5 small sketches of the specimen and its parts, as described below]
 1. Calyx spread open, shewing [showing] capsule, stamens, & style
 2. Capsule & Style. 3. Transverse section of Capsule
 4. Seed. 5. Form of the flower nearly [underlined: nearly]; but
 two or three times magnified.


 I shall try to get some more fresh specimens and
 take a more accurate view of the flowers. It may 
 be that you are familiar with the plant.
 If so, do tell me what it is [is?], for I have made
 an unsuccessful but diligent search in all
 my books.

        