The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: Melbourne ¶ 26/9/73. ¶ ¶ It was quite a source of delight to me in my present misery, dear Mr Bentham, to receive the proof sheets by last mail. ¶ Bentham (1863-78), vol. 6; M's commentsrelate to spe...

Melbourne

26/9/73.

It was quite a source of delight to me in my present misery, dear Mr Bentham, to receive the proof sheets by last mail.

1

Bentham (1863-78), vol. 6; M's comments relate to species that appear on sheets P – Y, pp. 209-336, sent after being delayed at the printers at Whitsun 1873 (see G. Bentham to M, 11 July 1873).

It is quite marvellous to me to behold your work, which proceeds with a celerity, which is astonishing to everyone. I now glance over the new pages a second time, and give you a few hasty annotations, such as a local observer, like myself, can perhaps make best of all.

2

M's comments below add additional location records, supply missing information or make corrections. For a detailed explanation of a similar list, see notes with M to G. Bentham, 31 August 1873.

p. 210Fagus Gunnii. On this and many other plants of Tasmania some notes have been placed before the R.S. of Tasmania at its last meeting.

3

B74.13.05, pp. 64. See also M to J. Agnew, 9 August 1873.

p. 211. Fagus Cunninghami. Dandenong Range and Upper La Trobe River.

p. 214. Santalum lanceolatum. Fruit black.

p. 216. Fusanus accuminatus;

4

Fusanus acuminatus?

along the whole Murray scrubs in South Australia, also about St Vincents Gulf and Lake Torrens.

Fusanus persicarius. Not rare on the River Murray in N.S. Wales, likewise on the River Darling.

p. 217. F. crassifolius. Not occurring in Victoria and therefore not extending to South Australia.

p. 218. Choretrum glomeratum. Calyx white, without any tinge of yellow.

p. 219. C. spicatum. On the Murray in N.S.W. All Desert plants of the Murray River belong to N.S Wales also.

p. 223. Leptomeria aphylla. N.S.W. The Serra Range of Sir Thomas Mitchell belongs to Victoria.

5

The Serra Range is part of the Grampians, Vic, named by Mitchell.

The plant occurs as far as Lake Torrens.

p. 229. Exocarpus cupressiformis. Common throughout Victoria and the more southern parts of Australia.

p. 230. Exocarpus aphylla. Murray Desert in Victoria.

p. 237. Frenela robusta. Western side of Carpentaria.

p. 241. Microcachrys tetragona. Mount Field East.

Arthrotaxis. D. Don wrote the genus Athrotaxis.

p. 242. A. cupressoides. Lake Fenton.

A. laxifolia. Also at Lake Fenton and Mount Field East.

A. selaginoides. With the 2 others far from the Western Mountains.

p. 243. Araucaria Bidwilli. The occurrence of the tree between Rockinghams Bay & Cleveland Bay is denied by Mr Fitzalan. I believe Mr Hill had his information from the natives only.

p. 244. Dammara. Seemann figured a species from Feegee.

6

i.e. Fiji.

D. robusta. Found by Dallachy also near Rockinghams Bay

p. 245. Dammara Franklini

7

Dacrydium Franklinii ?

"Huon" Pine after the Huon River.

p. 248. Podocarpus alpina Mount Buller. Haidinger's Range. and other high alpine mountains.

8

See Home (2014) for the names of M's localities in the Victorian Alps.

p. 249. Cycas media. I gave in my report on the Burdekin Expedition p. 18

9

B60.13.12.

the hight of the plant as 70 feet on Fitzalan's authority.

p. 253. Macrozamia Perowskiana. The specific name is not only of a recent date for Macrozamia, but it was given originally in Petersburg under the erroneous idea that the plant came from Mexico. Regel last year or the year before had an article on this plant in the "Gartenflora", reestablishing Lepidozamia.

10

Regel (1870).

p. 256. Hydrocharis Morsus ranae. Truly indigenous at Moreton's Bay.

p. 257. Ottelia ovalifolia. Lake Alexandrina is in S. Australia, This plant is frequent through the whole of extratropic Australia and occurs also in many parts of tropic Australia. I could not carry specimens from many localities.

11

i.e. during M's collecting on the North Australia Exploring Expedition, 1856-7.

p. 260. Hydrilla verticillata. Murray River in N.S.W. & South Australia.

p. 261. Musaceae. There seems no gain in reducing the order to Scitamineae.

M. Banksii. Endlicher (flor. Norfolk.)

12

Endlicher (1833), p. 35.

records a species as seen by Sir Jos Banks, who probably could not restore his specimens like many others, when his collections became soaked with seawater through the leak of the Ship near Endeavour River.

13

James Cook beached Endeavour for repair in the Endeavour River, Qld, after the ship hit a coral reef in June 1770.

Musa Banksii has recently been found at Endeavour River or near it! The reference to Banks plant is in Governor Hunters Work on N.S Wales.

14

See J. Forster (1794). See notes 20 and 21 below.

p. 275. Oberonia palmicola. Kelleway.

p. 288. Dendrobium cucumerium. Named by Mr M’Leay. Found beyond Rockhampton by Mr Hartmann.

15

Carl Hartmann.

p. 294. Sarcochilus parviflorus Prefers Aster argophyllus for growth.

p. 327. Diuris palustris The Burra Burra is in S. Australia.

R Browns locality of Choretrum lateriflorum at K. G. S.

16

King George Sound, WA. Robert Brown (1773-1858) collected at King George Sound, WA from 9 December 1801 to 4 January 1802; he had extended stays in Sydney and environs from 9 May to 20 July 1802, 9 June to 27 November 1803, and 24 August 1804 to 23 May 1805 (R. Brown (2001)).

rests clearly on a misplacement of labels only, for otherwise he could not have failed to record it also from the vicinity of Sydney, where he stayed so long.

Frenela Macleayana was found by the late Mr Tozer at the Hastings.

17

Hastings River, NSW.

My friend Mons Thozet was never there.

Have you compared the figure of a Dipodium given by Reichenbach in the Xenia?

18

Presumably Dipodium pictum in Xenia Orchidaceae, vol. 2, p. 15 (1868). Bentham does not list this species in Bentham (1863-78), vol. 6.

Nageia must as a genus take precedence before Podocarpus.

Macrozamia spiralis descend south to near Twofold Bay, altho' it does not actualy come as far as Victoria.

19

Text ends about two-thirds of the way down the page, without valediction.

20

The remaining text, on a sheet bound as RBG Kew, Kew correspondence, Australia, Mueller, 1858-70, f. 34, is annotated in pencil 'Vol vi', presumably by an archivist when the manuscripts were sorted for binding. The fragment is included here on the basis that M is expanding on his comment on Bentham's entry for Musa Banksia, p. 261. M further clarified the point in M to G. Bentham, 8 October 1873 (in this edition as 73-10-08b), after requesting information from colleagues in Sydney; see M to W. Clarke, 8 October 1873.

The note of Forster, who doubtless learned it from Sir Joseph Banks himself, that the latter found a Musa on the Australian Continent is printed in Hunter's Nachrichten von Neu Süd Wallis as translated by Forster

21

J. Forster (1794). The note on p. 290 included the comment that since Joseph Banks found seed-bearing plantains in North East Australia where, unlike elsewhere in the world, they were not propagated from root shoots, the same situation would exist on Norfolk Island.

p. 290 and Bemerkung p. 157.

22

J. Forster & G. Forster (1783). The note on p. 157 reports that Banks was reputed to have found a Mus a in New Holland that had complete seeds.

Musa Banksii is not uncommon in N. E. Australia, and I do not think that Sir Jos Banks or Dr Solander could have passed so conspicuous a plant on Endeavour River.

23

The text ends at the bottom of the first page of the folio. See also Hawkesworth (1773), vol. 3. p. 158, which reports a foraging party returning with some small plantains of which the 'pulp, though it was well tasted, was full of small stones'. See also M to G. Bentham, 8 October 1873 (in this edition as 73-10-08b).

Araucaria Bidwilli

Arthrotaxis

Aster argophyllus

Athrotaxis cupressoides

Athrotaxis laxifolia

Athrotaxis selaginoides

Choretrum glomeratum

Choretrum lateriflorum

Choretrum spicatum

Cycas media

Dammara Franklini

Dammara robusta

Dendrobium cucumerinum

Dipodium

Diuris palustris

Exocarpus aphylla

Exocarpus cupressiformis

Fagus Cunninghami

Fagus Gunnii

Frenela Macleayana

Frenela robusta

Fusanus accuminatus

Fusanus crassifolius

Fusanus persicarius

Hydrilla verticillata

Hydrocharis Morsus ranae

Lepidozamia

Leptomeria aphylla

Macrozamia Perowskiana

Macrozamia spiralis

Microcachrys tetragona

Musa Banksii

Musaceae

Nageia

Oberonia palmicola

Ottelia ovalifolia.

Podocarpus alpina

Santalum lanceolatum

Sarcochilus parviflorus

Scitamineae

The correspondence of

Ferdinand von Mueller

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