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RBG Kew, Kew Correspondence, Australia, Mueller, 1858-70, f. 27. 68.10.00a

Plant names

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to George Bentham , 1868-10 [68.10.00a]. 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/68-10-00a>, accessed September 11, 2025

1
Annotated in an unknown hand at top of f. 27: 'Vol iv'.
The perusal of the proof sheets
2
Bentham sent sets of completed sheets as they were printed, after having corrected proofs which M did not see. Letter dated on the basis that the gatherings of Bentham (1863-78), vol. 4, that include the families being commented upon begin with p. 273 and end with either p. 338 or p. 352 (
Asclepiadeae

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finishes on p. 348). These pages were still 'in the printers hands' in July (G. Bentham to M, 12 July 1868). The sheets for the next group of families were almost certainly those sent in late October 1868 (G. Bentham to M, 29 October 1868). On the assumption that the sheets still being printed in July were sent when Bentham was 'passing through town for a few days in August' (G. Bentham to M, 12 July 1868), M's response is unlikely to have been sent before October 1868.
of
Myrsineae

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,
Sapoteae

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,
Apocyneae

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&
Asclepiadeae

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, has given me very great pleasure and I thank you heartily, dear Mr Bentham, for the generous concessions made by you in my favor.
3
Bentham retained a number of M's unpublished names, indicated by 'F. Muell. Herb.' being given as the authority, as well as many first published by M. In addition, M is quoted in the notes to many species but his views are not always accepted by Bentham. For a general discussion of Bentham's treatment of M's names and views in Flora Australiensis see Lucas (2003).
The very great access
4
accession.
to these orders will cause some astonishment. I have but few amendations to point out.
275. Myrsine crassifolia. Mount Lindsay is in Q.L.
5
The number preceding each note refers to the page number of Bentham (1863-78), vol. 4. Bentham gave Mt Lindsay as a New South Wales locality. Mt Lindesay, where Walter Hill, the collector cited, is likely to have collected, is in SE Queensland, near the NSW border; Mt. Lindsay, NSW, is south of Sydney.
277.
Aegiceras majus

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. The most southern locality is as yet unknown.
6
The most southerly location for this cosmopolitan species indicated by Bentham is Port Jackson, NSW.
295.
Jasminum lineare

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Br. Avoca and Murray River in Victoria
7
Bentham included no locality data for Victoria, but did list collections from all other mainland Australian colonies. M did not specifically include Victoria in his distribution data for the species in B67.12.01, p. 87, where the distribution is given as 'deserti tractum occupat ad fluvios Murrayi, Lachlani et Darlingii, ad regiones pone sinum Carpentariae, ad rivum Sturtii et ad sinum Nicholii.'
297. Jasm. calcareum. Central Austr J. M. Stuart
8
Bentham comments on a 'specimen in Herb. F. Mueller from Central Australia (collector not mentioned)'.
305.
Carissa Brownii

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. I feel certain that the 3 Brownian Carissae
9
Bentham maintained the three species of Carissa described in R. Brown (1810), p. 468, noting under C. ovata that 'F. Mueller, Fragm iv, 45 [B63.10.01], unites this and the two following species [C. scabra and C. lanceolata] under the name of C. Brownii'.
are not distinct species, but that their differences arise from climatical and geological conditions. The broadleaved form occurs in the moist jungle forests, the narrowleaved variety in the desert. We have analogous forms in
Canthium

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Geijera

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Lyonsia

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and a few other genera and the intermediate forms can be traced through the interjacent country, though such forms have not been always collected and are not so common as the ordinary varieties.
10
Ecological explanations of variability were part of M's general argument for 'drawing the conclusion, that the number of species has been greatly overrated' (B64.10.02, p. 7), as part of his argument against speciation by natural selection; see Lucas (2010).
308
Alyxia ruscifolia

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The root is remarkably fragrant. I certainly think if Lord Howe's Island is quoted Norfolk Island ought also be included; both belong to the territory of N.S.Wales.
11
Bentham included 'Lord Howe's Island' as a locality record; M gives the same locality record in B71.07.01, p. 131, having given only a mainland NSW location in B68.02.03, p. 117. In neither place does M give a record for Norfolk Island and no specimens from there are recorded in Australian Virtual Herbarium [ http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/cgi-bin/avhpublic/avhxml.cgi accessed 13 February 2008]. M appears to have been making a general point about which islands should be included within NSW, rather than commenting on Bentham's entry for this species.
317.
Wrightia saligna

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extends into Queensland. See list of Austr. trees page 36.
12
Bentham had given Queensland locations for W. saligna, but only from the eastern part of the colony: he listed none from the north-west near the Gulf of Carpentaria. The localities Bentham gives under 'North Australia' include Albert River, which runs into the Gulf of Carpentaria near Burketown, Qld, as well as some in the present Northern Territory. See B67.13.02, pp. 20-38, for M's list of trees where, under the synonym, recognised by Bentham, of Balfouria saligna, the distribution is given as 'Q.L., N.A., C.A.' [Queensland, Northern Australia, Central Australia]. In B83.03.04, M's summary distribution annotations follow the political boundaries of the colonies, 'except that the tropic of Capricorn eastward to the 138th degree [i.e. the Queensland border] separates what is here called Northern Australia (N.A.) from the South- and West-Australian extratropic possessions' (p. viii).
321.
Lyonsia straminea

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. In almost all the fern tree gullies of Victoria
13
Bentham gave only two locality records for Victoria, Mount Disappointment and Mount Juliette. M implies a wide distribution in his entry for the species under the synonym Parsonsia straminea in B68.03.04, p. 129.
333.
Cynanchum floribundum

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. The township of Wentworth on the Darling-River is in the territory of N.S.W.
14
Bentham gave as Queensland locality records 'Wentworth and Gilbert rivers, F. Mueller; Suttor river and Broad Sound, Bowman.' M is correct in locating the town of Wentworth. However, none of the specimens listed in the Australian Virtual Herbarium [accessed via http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/cgi-bin/avhpublic/avhxml.cgi 8 February 2008] are from any locality near there. M probably collected the specimen near the present cattle station called 'Wentworth', south of the Suttor River and close to the return track taken by M during the North Australia Expedition in 1856; this may have been a name for a stream in the area, although it is not mentioned in A. Gregory (1858).
341.
Marsdenia Leichhardtiana

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is a native of Victoria in the Murray Desert and so also a native of S. Australia.
15
Bentham gave no locality data for Victoria, while the SA localities given were Daly Waters, in what is now NT, and between Stokes Range and Cooper's Creek. Bentham credits M as the author of the species, citing B66.10.01, p. 160. M does not give specific localities in that entry, but indicates that it is widespread.
f. 27 ends here, without salutation.
Alyxia was named by Banks not RBr
16
'Alyxia ... not RBr' marginal note on the front of f. 27. The note refers to Bentham (1863-78), vol. 4, p. 307. Bentham gives Brown, without a specific citation, as author of the genus, but cites R. Brown (1810), p. 470 for each of the species included in that work, as does M in B68.02.03, p. 117, for the same four species. In B83.03.04, p. 93, M correctly cites Brown (1810), p. 469 for the description of the genus, where Brown credits Banks with the authorship of the genus but does not cite a published source.