Document information

Physical location:

RB MSS M9, Library, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. 70.12.22a

Plant names

Preferred Citation:

Robert Fitzgerald to Ferdinand von Mueller, 1870-12-22 [70.12.22a]. 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//letters/1870-9/1870/70-12-22a-final.odt>, accessed June 13, 2026

1
MS found with a copy of Alyogyne pinoniana (MEL 2222591). MS annotations by M: 'Answ 27/12/70' (letter not found) and 'Orthoceras Strict'. Though the letter is incomplete and lacks a signature, the subject matter, the handwriting and the address from which it was sent show that it was written by Fitzgerald.
Survey Office, Sydney
22 Decr 70
Dear Sir,
Diuris "aqualis"
2
D. aequalis, not formally published until 1876 in Fitzgerald (1875-94), vol. 1(2), plate [12], with the comment 'Diuris aequalis was so named by Baron von Mueller from a specimen found by me at Liverpool'; see MEL 1541980.
was obtained by me at Liverpool,
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NSW.
I may not therefore be able to procure any fresh specimens and as I retained only flowers at the time after making a drawing I can now only send you a tracing of it, on which however you may rely as being truthful.
I enclose specimens of
Cryptostylis erecta

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. The positions of the flowers are I think, the same in both species, but in C longifolia the coloured petal generally turns down over the column concealing it (cryptos) in a hollow at the base, and in C erecta stands up (erecta) exposing it though deeply sunk. I cannot help inclosing specimens of two Hibiscus which I take to be Wrays & Heugils forms of H. Heugilii
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H. huegelli?
but they seem to me to be so very distinct except in form of leaf, especially when fresh, that I think you might like to examine them In the one
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Wrayae interlined by M.
(Heugils) the flower opens wide with a deeply divided calyx.
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calyx crossed out and involucre interlined in pencil by M .
The petals have a peculiar tooth, the pistil is when fresh the form of a small flower of
Hoya Carnosa

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and as well as the stamens is always yellow and the stamens are placed low on style. The colour is light blue and the pedicel is not jointed.
In the other
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H. Huegelii interlined by M.
the flower never opens, the calyx
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calyx crossed out and invol interlined in pencil by M .
is undivided, the stigma is small and golbular, the stamens are always dark coloured (as is the style) and they form a long close column. The pedicel is longer and jointed and the colour a rich purple inclining often to pink. It is a more upright bush than that with the blue flowers It comes from Western Australia The other from King Georges Sound.
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King George Sound, WA.
Should you wish for a specimen of an Orchid from Fiji which has flowered for me, I can send you one. My ideas about species have been rather disturbed by experiments I have been […]
10
An unknown amount of text missing. Stimulated by reading Darwin (1862) on orchids, Fitzgerald had been experimenting on fertilization of orchids. The results obtained, including the production of hybrids, are summarized in the introduction to Fitzgerald (1875-94), vol. 1, pp. 1-5.