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60.12.11aPreferred Citation:
Ferdinand von Mueller to Richard MacDonnell, 1860-12-11 [60.12.11a]. 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/60-12-11a>, accessed September 11, 2025
1
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'The poisonous herb',
Adelaide observer, 15 December 1860, p. 5 (B60.12.01). It is introduced by 'We have been favoured,
for the use of our readers, with the following useful letter from Dr. Mueller, on
the subject of the deleterious plant lately found in the north :—'
In 'The poisonous weed',
Adelaide advertiser, 6 December 1860, p. 3, the newspaper reported further deaths among sheep in the
north of the colony, and said 'we learn that not only sheep but cattle also have died
through eating this poisonous weed. Mr. [George] Francis, of the Botanic Garden, has
shown us a small and very poor specimen of it, … A specimen of the plant has been forwarded to Dr. Mueller, the Government botanist in Melbourne, and in a week or two we trust that
we shall be in a position to publish his report.'
December 11, I860.
Sir Richard—
I examined the plant transmitted by your Excellency as the supposed herb which proved
so deleterious to the flocks in the northern parts of your colony. It is a small and
dark-flowered variety of the Australian Birdsfoot-trefoil (Lotus Australis), distinguished
as Lotus Behrii. I must confess that I am yet sceptic on the point whether really
the plant could have caused the losses of the stock about Lake Torrens; but, although
I will explain my reasons for doubting the harmful effects of the Lotus Australis,
it must be admitted that only by actual experiment we can arrive to satisfactory conclusions
on such points as that in question.
I would recommend that the plant should be given to sheep in various parts of Australia,
one or two animals to be kept in yards for a little while previous to the administering
of the lotus. We would then learn whether the plant is uniformly deleterious, or in
higher or lesser degree under varied circumstances.
2
Price Maurice, in a letter to the
South Australian advertiser, 21 December 1860, p. 3, reports experiments with the plant that he held responsible
for the loss of between 600 and 700 sheep on his run, including dried foliage. With
dried material, one sheep became affected, but recovered, another was unaffected;
but with fresh material, including green pods full of seeds, four out of five experimental
animals died.
The Lotus Australis is found from the north of Tasmania, through South Australia,
Victoria, and New South Wales, extending sparingly through Queensland to the Gulf
of Carpentaria, reappearing in Western Australia near Sharks' Bay and the Murchison
River, and occurring also on the Isle of Pines.
It is not infrequent in many parts of our colonies, and affords a very succulent herbage in many sandy tracts of the coast pastures—a circumstance which
has even suggested the cultivation of the plant in sandy tracts, in a similar manner
as the English Birdsfoot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) has been and is cultivated in wet meadows. The English species is regarded by many
as equal to clover, by others even superior to it. The Lotus Edulis was employed as a vegetable food by the ancients whilst the Lotus Messamusis
is regarded as a superior forage plant.
3
New Caledonia?
4
Not in IPNI. The printer has no doubt mis-read M’s handwriting.
There are many species of lotus in South Europe and Asia, none known to possess any poisonous characters, thus rendering the case of the Australian plant—
should it really be proved to have caused the recent calamities amongst the herds—somewhat
anomalous. I will endeavour to obtain a supply of the plant here, and see what effect it has on animal organization.
5
See M to R. MacDonell, 2 March 1861 (in this edition as 61-03-02a).
Is not, perhaps, a gompholobium, of which one species occurs in South Australia, and of which, as well as of gastrolabium,
several species of known deleterious properties occur in New South Wales, the cause of the disasters
to the flocks in your colony? Or is it not, perhaps, some other plant to which the
poisonous properties are to be ascribed?- the Sevoirsona Greyonia,
or Darling Pea, for instance, being found to be hurtful to stock if in dry seasons used by them as a prevalent food.
6
gastrolobium?
7
A misreading of
Swainsona greyana?
Trusting that we will not only, sooner or later, arrive at positive information and
proof on the poison plants now so much dreaded, but also to obtain the means of securing the enterprising
settlers of the interior against losses, and ready to lend, at any time, for such a purpose, my humble aid,
I remain, Sir Richard,
your attached
Ferd. Mueller.
His Excellency Sir Richard MacDonnell, K.C.B., &c.
8
There was an extensive correspondence on the topic in the newspapers in December 1860
and in 1861, including a letter from George Francis who experimented with feeding Lotus australis
to sheep; 'in spite of all we can do, the sheep will not die; they rather seem to
like the process' ('The so-called poisonous plant',
South Australian register, 10 January 1861, p. 3). M's experiments corroborated Francis's results with fresh
material gathered in Victoria, but the dried material sent from South Australia killed
sheep in a manner consistent with an alkaloid poison; see M to R. MacDonnell, 2 March 1861 (in this edition as 61-03-02a).
Gastrolabium
Gompholobium
Lotus Australis
Lotus Behrii
Lotus corniculatus
Lotus Edulis
Lotus Messamusis
Sevoirsona Greyonia