Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Letter not found. For the text given here, see Australasian, 5 September 1874, p. 308. 'At a meeting of the Shire Council of Corio held in August, it was reported that a number of cattle had been poisoned on the You Yangs farmers commons by a plant of which they had eaten. A specimen of the weed was produced, and it was resolved that it should be forwarded to Baron von Mueller, the Government botanist, to ascertain its name and properties.'

[The reply, which was read on Wednesday

2

i.e. 2 September 1874.

at the shire council meeting, was to the effect that the specimen belonged to a genus of plants long since ascertained to possess an acrid poisonous sap, the name of the species sent him being

Drosera peltata

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, and that all the plants, of which there were nine within the colony of Victoria, are known as "Sundew herb." He suggested, by way of effectual remedy, that the common should not be overstocked, and that the patches of land on which the noxious herb exists should be ploughed over, and sown with English grasses.]