The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ You will know that wide stretches of Western Australia are unusable as pasture for sheep, cattle and horses on account of the widespread occurrence of this harmful plant and related species, as wel...

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66.00.00

Plant names

Gastrolobium
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Gompholobium
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Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Georg Wittstein, 1866. 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/66-00-00>, accessed September 11, 2025

Letter not found. For the extract given here, see Archiv der Pharmazie, vol. 178 (1866), p. 79 (B66.13.08). The extract appears in a discussion of various poisonous plants, particularly Gstrolobium bilobum, and is introduced as follows: 'Herr Dr. Ferd. Mueller, der sich in Australien—Melbourne—befindet, schickte mehrere Exemplare gennanter Pflanze an Herrn Prof. Dr. Wittstein mit einem Brief folgenden Inhaltes;' [Dr Ferd. Mueller, who is in Melbourne, Australia, sent several examples of the above-mentioned plant to Prof. Dr Wittstein with a letter with the following contents].

An English translation, differing in minor respects from that provided here, was published in Perth gazette and West Australian times , 24 April 1868, p. 2; see M to F. Barlee, 20 March 1868.

Es wird Ihnen bekannt sein, dass weite Striche Westaustraliens als Weideland für Schafe, Rinder und Pferde unbenutzbar sind wegen des massenweisen Auftretens dieser schädlichen Pflanze und verwandter Arten, so wie auch gewisser -Arten; nun wäre es doch interessant zu wissen, in welchem Stoffe die tödtende Wirkung ruht. In Hooker's Journal werden Sie manche Mittheilung von Drummond über die Symptome, welche durch den Genuss des herbeigeführt werden, mitgetheilt finden.

You will know that wide stretches of Western Australia are unusable as pasture for sheep, cattle and horses on account of the widespread occurrence of this harmful plant and related species, as well as certain species of . Now it would really be interesting to know in which substance the deadly effect lies. In Hooker's Journal you will find many a notification communicated by Drummond about the symptoms that are caused by the ingestion of .