Document information

Physical location:

GRG 19/391, State Records of South Australia, Adelaide. 84.01.06

Plant names

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Maurice Holtze, 1884-01-06. 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/84-01-06>, accessed September 11, 2025

6/1/84.
Gestern Abend kam Ihr Packet Pflanzen an, lieber Herr Holtze, und habe ich gleich heute die Untersuchung vorgenommen, obgleich ich mich, — von einem bösen Husten gequält, — an einen ruhigen Küstenpunkt begeben habe, Linderung in der Seeluft suchend. Entfernt von meiner Bibliothek kann ich nicht Alles zum Abschluss bringen, aber 376 ist eine Antiaris , u. wahrscheinlich die von Rob. Brown beschriebene A. macrophylla, welche dem Giftbaum Java's, dem "upas-tree", A. toxicaria sehr ähnlich ist.
Ich werde im Laufe dieses Monats nach Melbourne zurückkehren, u. dann die noch fraglichen Pflanzen Ihrer Sammlung erledigen, soweit es das vorliegende Material zulässt. Von den meisten empfangen Sie nun schon den vollen Namen.
Von 349 wäre die Frucht sehr willkommen, auch von 378.
Die kleine blattlose Pflanze N. 362 mit sahnefarbigen Blumen gehört zu dem genus
Apetalon

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, welches in Java u Malacca vorkommt, und welches ich auch in einer eigenthümlichen Art von den Neu Hebriden habe; das Auffinden dieses Genus durch Sie zuerst in Australien ist sehr interessant.
Besten Dank auch für die Teosinte-Samen.
Die Formen von Hypoetis hatte Bentham verbunden, nämlich H. floribunda u. H. rosea (oder H. laxiflora. Ich will sehen, wie solche am Besten zu definiren sind, nachdem Sie meine Aufmerksamkeit darauf lenkten. Es giebt zwei bittere Sorten von Rinden, die als einheimisch in Australien gebraucht werden, — die von
Petalostigma quadriloculare

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, u. die von
Alstonia constricta

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. Auf der Melville Insel, wenn Ihre dortige Parthie dahin kommt, wären besonders vollständige Exemplare von
Cochlospermum

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zu sammeln.
Ihnen ein recht frohes u. segensreiches neues Jahr wünschend,
bin ich der Ihre
Ferd. von Mueller.
Es wäre gut, von der Antiaris eine Anzahl Exemplare zu trocknen.
6 January 1884.
Your parcel of plants arrived yesterday evening,
1
See M to M. Holtze, November 1883 (in this edition as 83-11-00a).
dear Mr Holtze, and I immediately embarked on their examination today, although — plagued by a nasty cough — I have gone to a quiet spot on the coast to seek relief in the sea air.
2
M was at Clifton Springs, near Drysdale, Vic; see M to T. Wilson, 1 January 1884.
Distant from my library I can not bring everything to a conclusion, but 376 is an Antiaris , and probably A. macrophylla, described by Robert Brown,
3
R. Brown (1814), p. 602, t. 5.
which is very similar to the poison tree of Java, the 'upas-tree', A. toxicaria.
I shall return to Melbourne in the course of this month, and will then attend to the still outstanding plants from your collection, as far as the available material allows. You are already receiving the full names of most of them now.
Fruit of 349
4
See M to M. Holtze, November 1883 (in this edition as 83-11-00a).
would be very welcome, also of 378.
5
See M to M. Holtze, November 1883 (in this edition as 83-11-00a), and M to M. Holtze, 7 February 1884 (in this edition as 84-02-07a).
The little leafless plant No. 362 with the cream coloured flowers belongs to the genus
Apetalon

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, which occurs in Java and Malacca, and which I have also from the New Hebrides in a strange form. The first discovery of this genus in Australia by you is very interesting.
6
See M to M. Holtze, November 1883 (in this edition as 83-11-00a), and M to M. Holtze, 6 February 1884. In the latter letter, M identified the 'little leafless orchid Nr 362' as a Leucorchis, 'a genus of which we did not know any species from Australia'.
Apetalon

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and Leuchorchis are reported in APNI as synonyms of Didymoplexis pallens. MEL 0625945, stored as Didymoplexis pallens, has the collecting number 362 but is dated as 1886 and attributed jointly to J. E. Tenison-Woods and Holtze. Holtze gave specimens of many species to Tenison-Woods when he visited Darwin in 1886, most of which bear the same numbers that he had used when sending earlier specimens to M. There is no other MEL specimen with the Holtze number 362 listed by AVH (accessed 8 March 2022); the specimen in the collection is therefore most unlikely to be the one(s) seen by M when he provided his identifications.
Also best thanks for the seed of the Teosinte.
Bentham had combined the forms of Hypoetis,
7
i.e. Hypoestes.
that is H. floribunda and H. rosea (or H. laxiflora).
8
Bentham (1863-79), vol. 4, pp. 553-4.
I will see how they can best be defined, since you brought it to my attention. There are two kinds of bitter bark, which are used indigenously in Australia, that of
Petalostigma quadriloculare

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,
9
After he erected the genus in B57.13.01, p. 17, M supplied samples of the bark of
Petalostigma quadriloculare

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to G. Wittstein, which was analysed by Falco (1866).
and that of
Alstonia constricta

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. On Melville Island,
10
NT.
when your local party gets there, complete specimens of
Cochlospermum

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in particular should be collected.
Wishing you a very happy and richly blessed new year,
I remain your
Ferd. von Mueller.
It would be good to dry a number of specimens of the Antiaris.