1. The receipt stamp of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew that appears on this letter is dated 13 March 1899 and an annotation indicates that the letter was answered 13 March 1899.
2. Sir William Thiselton-Dyer (1843--1928). British botanist and third Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1885--1905). He succeeded Joseph Hooker in the role after serving as his Assistant Director for ten years. He previously held professorships at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Royal College of Science for Ireland and the Royal Horticultural Society. He married Hooker's eldest daughter Harriet in 1877.
3. George Gardner (1810--1849). Scottish surgeon whose interest in botany was generated by lectures given by Sir William Hooker at the University of Glasgow. He spent 5 years collecting plants and other natural history specimens in Brazil, described in Travels in the Interior of Brazil. On his return he was elected as a member of the Linnaean Society. In 1844 he was appointed the Superintendent and Chief Gardener of the Royal Botanic Garden, Peradeniya in Ceylon [Sri Lanka] where he worked on a 'Flora Zeylanica'.
4. The island formerly known as Ceylon is now called Sri Lanka.
5. King of Hanover's House. This house was purchased by George III in 1818, at George Bentham's suggestion, to provide a home for the Herbarium and Library of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. George IV sold it to the nation and William III granted it to the Duke of Cumberland. In 1837 when the Duke of Cumberland became the King of Hanover it was called the King of Hanover's House.
6. George Bentham (1800--1884). British botanist who donated his herbarium of more than 100,000 specimens to Kew. He spent 27 years with Joseph Hooker in research and examination of specimens for the work Genera Plantarum, an influential work on plant taxonomy which is the foundation of modern systems of classification.
7. James Bateman (1811--1897). The landowner and horticulturalist who developed Biddulph Grange gardens. He was a collector and scholar of orchids and published 3 volumes on orchids.
8. August Karl Joseph Corda (1809--1849). Czech physician and mycologist.
9. Johann Hedwig (1730--1799). German botanist noted for his studies of mosses and sometimes called the 'father of bryology'.
10. Baron Alexander von Humboldt (1769--1859). German naturalist, explorer and plant collector in Spanish America, Russia and Asia. His most famous work was Cosmos -- a survey of the physical sciences and their interrelation.
11. Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727--1817). Dutch scientist who studied medicine in Leiden before moving to Paris and then Vienna. He collected plants in the West Indies and Central America on behalf of Francis I for the Schonbrünn Palace and became Director of the Botanical Gardens of the University of Vienna.
12. Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759--1840). Dutch artist and botanist known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at Malmaison. He was the official court artist of Queen Marie Antoinette. This reference is probably to Les Liliacées, 8 volumes, 1802--1816.
13. William Roxbrugh (1751--1815). Scottish surgeon and botanist who worked extensively in India collecting, identifying and illustrating plants and experimenting with the introduction of new crops. His Flora Indica was published in two volumes after his death and he was known as the founding father of Indian botany.
14. Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (1794--1865). Austrian botanist who took part in the Austrian Brazil Expedition. He was appointed Royal Gardener in Vienna and served as the Director of the Imperial Gardens at the Schonbrünn Palace. He was known for his extensive work on the Araceae and was co-author, with Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher, of 'Metelemata botanica'.
15. Flora Londinensis. A flora of the London region published in the 18th century by William Curtis in 6 volumes. The work was enlarged by William J. Hooker who published an edition with his own text in 1817 and 1828.
15a. Sowerby, James (1787--1809), Coloured Figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms. London
16. Michele Tenore (1880--1886). Italian botanist who helped found and became Director of the Botanical Garden of Naples. He was author of Flora Neapolitana.
17. Etienne Pierre Ventenat (1757--1808). A French botanist and author of 'Le Jardin de la Malmaison' which was commissioned by Joséphine de Beauharnais and illustrated by Pierre-Joseph Redouté.
18. Franz de Paula Adam Norbert Wenzel Ludwig Valentin von Waldstein (1759--1823). Austrian soldier, explorer and naturalist who, with Pal Kitaibel, produced 3 volumes of descriptions and illustrations of rare plants of Hungary.
19. Charles Friedrich Martins (1806--1889). French botanist.
20. Karl Sigismund Kunth (1788--1850). German botanist who worked in Paris classifying plants collected by Humboldt in the Americas. He eventually became Professor of Botany at the University of Berlin and a Vice-president of its Botanical Garden and continued collecting in South and Central America. He was the author of Les graminées de l'Amerique du Sud.
21. The word order at the start of this sentence was changed to: 'Bentham too felt this acutely....'

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