Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Pencilled annotation at head of letter by M: '[Bidisc. Folius]'.

Kew Aug 22/62

My dear Mueller

Your very intelligent friend Mr Osborne called today

2

See M to J. Hooker, 24 April 1862 (in this edition as 62-04-24a).

& I have given him such letters as I could on the spur of the moment & when everybody almost is out of Town.

I am on the Eve of starting for Scotland tomorrow, but have arranged to see him on my return on the 15th Sept. & do what more I can for him.

Your letter per Orwell arrived yesterday,

3

The description presumably accompanied either M to W. Hooker, 24 April 1862 (in this edition as 62-04-24f) or M to J. Hooker, 24 April 1862 (64-04-24a), since Orwell left Melbourne at the end of April (see M to J. Hooker, 22 June 1862).

with the description of

Ranunculus Haastii

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— This I have not sent for the present to the Bot. Society of Edinburgh because you have confounded two plants which are abundantly distinct & which I have named in a supplementary paper to my Fl. Nov. Zeland for Linn Soc. R. Lyallii & R. Traversii

4

Descriptions did not appear in a journal of the Linnean Society. Hooker eventually published R. traversii and R. lyallii in J. Hooker (1864-7), p. 4, and also R. haasti (p. 6), without any reference to M. Of R. traversii, the description of which follows immediately after the description of R. lyallii, Hooker wrote: 'I follow Mr Travers's opinion in distinguishing this species, which is certainly closely allied to the former. I have but very indifferent specimens.' See also M to J. Haast, 29 July 1862 (in this edition as 62-07-29b), and M to J. Hooker, 25 August 1862.

the first of them was what you first sent description of as Haastii — it was discovered by Dr Lyall, has very large & coriaceous simply crenate leaves very large flowers; the other is a much smaller plant with crenate & lobed leaves, smaller difft. cold

5

coloured.

flowers. Both on this account & because my paper would certainly appear before yours & in a well recognized Bot. Journal I have thought you would be glad that I retained your description till further orders from yourself.

The Orwell has arrived but the boxes are not delivered yet. Bentham has made great progress with vol I & is now gone on a 6 weeks holiday to recruit after his very hard work — he hopes to publish a volume by Christmas.

6

Bentham (1863-78), vol. 1, was published in May 1863 (TL2).

My father is fairly well but laid up with an attack of Eczema

7

See J. Hooker to M, 11 April 1862.

which being on the ancles, quite prevents his walking. He has just lost a favorite little grand child,

8

Anne McGilvray, aged 11, died on 15 August 1862; see Allan (1967), p. 208.

which is a source of great affliction

I am distributing Gunn's Tasmanian plants now, & shall put aside a good set for you which will go in Autumn together with some other things that will I hope prove acceptable.

9

MEL has some specimens collected by Ronald Gunn that were sent to Melbourne by Hooker, but only a very small number.

I am excessively busy with the most extraordinary plant in the world, the

Welwitschia

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it has cost me many weeks dissection & study & I expect to publish the memoir about Xmas in Linn. Soc. Trans with 10 quarto plates

10

J. Hooker (1863).

We are quite overwhelmed with the visitors to this Gt. Exhibition.

11

International Exhibition, London, 1862.

We shall know little of the destination of the objects till toward the end

With my fathers sincere regards