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RBG Kew, Directors' letters, vol. LXXIV, Australia letters 1851-8, letter no. 176. 58.03.15

Plant names

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to William Hooker, 1858-03-15. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id/58-03-15>, accessed November 14, 2024

Melbourne bot.Garden,
15 March. 1858.
My dear Sir William
Already by last mail I had the pleasure of thanking you for the most valuable contribution of plants & seeds to this garden.
1
See M to W. Hooker, 15 February 1858 (in this edition as 58-02-15b).
The former are mostly by this time cloathed in a beautiful fresh green of young leaves and much admired by our visitors. No letters having arrived from you by this mail, I have at last to express all my gratitude for the tokens of kindness in your last letter,
2
Letter not found.
to which I could not reply by the corresponding mail, the steamer coming in only after a protracted voyage, when the mail had left. I esteem it as an extreme favour, that notwithstanding your multifarious advocations you hold myself worthy of such regular & continued attention. May the blessings of providence permit you, to be long yet amongst us.
— Passing seriatim through your kind suggestions & enquiries, I beg leave to state, that I shall be but too happy to see you make any use of my little fund for books such as I may require. I mentioned to Mr Pamplin, that I am so very anxious for obtaining a second hand copy of Bot. Magaz. (exclus. I-XXIV)
3
Curtis (1787-1800), Sims (1801-26) of which volume 24 was published 1806.
& of Bot. Register,
4
S. Edwards (1815-28), Lindley (1829-47).
and I should be quite pleased even with an imperfect series of the volumes, and would at once send the saldo,
5
Saldo = balance (of account).
if he will trust me so long til I know he has secured these great national works. He must not forget to send Hook & Thoms. fl. Indica & your species filicum.
6
Hooker & Thompson (1855), W. Hooker (1846-64).
I feel very proud, that you think so well of my report on the Botany of North Australia
7
The report was published as B58.05.01.
and I hope that an equally favourable opinion will be entertained of it in parliament. The index of the [genera] is to be corrected in some instances,
Dichrostachys

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=
Mitreola

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. But I feel how very burdensome all these labours must be to you officially to receive them, to report on them &c
I am fortunately now in possession of the whole of last years Kew Miscellany, and can not to much regret, that such a valuable & interesting periodical should not have enjoyed more support. Many thanks for all you kindness evinced to me in its pages.
With one of the first clippers I will endeavour to fill your Wardian Cases again, meanwhile 3 of mine must have arrived at Kew. — We are preparing for the autumnal show of the Horticultural Society; this and other extra-labours leave me little leisure, so that my descriptive labours progressed but tardily, but will be resumed with alacrity as soon as possible.
A few remarks on
Leguminosae

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& ferns, perhaps partially useful for Dr Hookers Tasmanian Flora I beg to offer.
Pultenaea diffusa

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, unless the seeds are strophiolate, is referable to
Phyllota

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, a genus which differs on account of its want of both stipules & strophioles more from Pultenaea than from
Burtonia

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, the differences of that genus consisting chiefly in the almost regularly toothed calyx.
8
M's comments refer to the species of Pultenaea published by J. Hooker in the third fascicle (May 1856) of his as yet incomplete flora of Tasmania (1855-60).
Pult. cordata is nothing else than the broad-leaved form of Pultenaea [juniperina], and P. pimeloides
9
Pultenaea pimelioides?
seems to be an analogous variety of P. dentata. I cannot specifically distinguish Pult. hibbertioides from Pult. mollis. Indeed the aberrations from the typical forms in Pultenaea species is so great, that I have now a full series of intermediate forms between P. foliolosa, P. epacridea [&] Spadostylis
10
Spadostyles?
pimeloides.
Euchilus

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& Spadostylis are mere subgenera of Pultenaea.
Sclerothamnus

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is referable to
Eutaxia

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. —
Hewardia Tasmanica

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I possess from Mount Laperouse Dr Hooker has in the fl. N.Z.
11
J. Hooker (1853-5) pt 2, p. 5.
the preference given to the name
Gleichenia semivestita

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Labill. sert., altho' 16 years older than R. Br. name G. microphylla. Some states of this species from N. South Wales convince me, that Gl. speluncae & Gl. rupestris are only such varieties of it, as local circumstances will readily produce. Guillemin's figure of G. speluncae is quite hairy.
12
Guillemin (1827) plate 12.
After the show I hope to be able to examine the plants of the South-East extremity of Australia and to introduce thus new species both into our Flora and our garden. I mention this merely, as I may thus be prevented from writing by the next mail.
I remain, my dear Sir William,
most humbly yours
Ferd. Mueller.
The Victorian Institute elected me with an overwhelming majority of votes to the Vicepresidency with Mr Hodgkinson, the Surveyor-General. Prevented from attending at the election I was unable to opp[ose]
13
editorial addition — obscured by binding.
my nomination, as I had no idea, my philos. friends had such an honour in [countenance]
14
editorial addition — obscured by binding.
for me. Now I feel it my duty to accept the high rank, being so kindfully & spontaneously offered.
15
See Transactions of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria . vol. 3 (1859), pp. i-ii. M was proposed by Dr Macadam. He received 36 votes to Clement Hodgkinson's 20, Professor Wilson's 18 and Dr Iffla's 14.
Dr Sonder requests me, to send him a copy of my papers printed by the Tasm. Roy. Soc. for Walp. annales.
16
B60.13.03 and B60.13.02 were apparently available in print by October 1857, see M to W. Hooker, 26 October 1857 (in this edition as 57-10-26a).
I enclose the only one I have, to go through your favor some day to him.
The
Panicum frumentosum

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17
Panicum frumentaceum?
has never been introduced into Australia.