The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ Among the Restiaceae last sent by Mr. Buchanan ¶ is a female specimen of the tall species peculiar to the Chatham Islands. ¶ Unexpectedly it shows this plant to belong to, the nucular, not the ca...

Document information

Physical location:

73.12.00a

Plant names

Elegia
Search for Elegia in
- This website
- Australian Plant Name Index
Leptocarpus
Search for Leptocarpus in
Lepyrodia
Search for Lepyrodia in
Restiaceae
Search for Restiaceae in
- This website
- Australian Plant Name Index
Restio
Search for Restio in
- This website
- Australian Plant Name Index
Sporadanthus
Search for Sporadanthus in

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to James Hector, 1873-12 [73.12.00a]. 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/1870-9/1873/73-12-00a-final.odt>, accessed June 4, 2026

Letter not found. The text given here is from the Proceedings of the Wellington Philosophical Society (Transactions and proceedings of the New Zealand Institute , vol. 6, p. 389 (B74.06.03). The item is dated to December 1873 as the latest likely date that it could have been written and read at the meeting of 6 January 1874. The text is introduced by

Dr. Hector read the following extract from a letter received from Baron von Mueller, relative to a plant from the Chatham Islands, described in "Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiensis," (sic) LXII., p, 79, as traversii, which further specimens have proved to be a new genus— [See B73.08.01, p. 79].

Among the last sent by Mr. Buchanan

John Buchanan (1819-1898).

is a female specimen of the tall species peculiar to the Chatham Islands.

See M to J. Hector, July 1873 (in this edition as 73-07-00a).

Unexpectedly it shows this plant to belong to, the nucular, not the capsular, series of the genera, among which its dispersion of flowers places it separate from any, except the South African genus ; but, as it differs in various respects from all the specimens of that genus, and as we have no s out of Africa, I have deemed it best to form a separate genus for the Chatham Island plant, and have named this new genus .

See P. Lange et al. (1999) for a discussion of the history of the taxon.

It holds precisely the same relation to as to . Perhaps you will kindly Insert a brief note to this effect in your next volume.