The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: The poison plant, of which you just sent a flowering specimen, dear Mr. Fitzgerald, is "Dollarynia juniperina," ¶ Typesetter's error for Dillwynia juniperina? ¶ of Greber, ¶ Typesetter's error for Si...

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Physical location:

74.08.00e

Plant names

Dollarynia juniperina
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Droberd
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Gastrolobium
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Gompholobium
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Gratiola
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Lobelia
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Oxylobium
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Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Robert Fitzgerald, 1874-08 [74.08.00e]. 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/1870-9/1874/74-08-00e-final.odt>, accessed June 4, 2026

Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Poison plant. (Extract of a letter from Baron Mueller, Melbourne to Robert Fitzgerald, Esq., Deputy Surveyor General)’, which is part of 'Disease in Sheep', related to 'the disease affecting the Sheep on Newstead Station, in the Glen Innes district', Australian town and country journal, 24 October 1874 (B74.10.05). M's letter is dated to the latest possible month, August 1874, as the report to the Chief inspector of Stock to which it is appended, dated 19 August 1874, is an answer to a memorandum from the Chief Inspector of Stock of 27 July and refers to 'the recent outbreak of disease'. The attention of the author of the report, William Morris, had 'been drawn to the supposed injurious effects of a certain shrub upon stock, by which it is said the sheep in question may have been poisoned’. He concluded, however, that the sheep suffered from a 'pneumonic attack', and 'not any poisonous agency derived from the shrub'.

The poison plant, of which you just sent a flowering specimen, dear Mr. Fitzgerald, is " ,"

Typesetter's error for Dillwynia juniperina?

of Greber,

Typesetter's error for Sieber?

which plant has a wide range through New South Wales, and appears also in the north-east part of Victoria, and the south of Queensland. It is not altogether surprising that this bush should have proved deleterious to pasture animals, as it belongs to the same series of genera which include , , and , all with at least some poisonous qualities. I suspect that many of the plants of this series are hurtful to horses, cattle, and sheep, but that the ill effect is only occasionally apparent, when the animals are browsing on large quantities of such plants in grassless localities. Wherever herbage and grasses of good kinds largely occur in tracts of country likewise sparsely inhabited by the Dollerynia, there will be but little danger arise in this respect to herds and flocks, because the poison plant will constitute but a very small portion of the forage, so it is with s

Typesetter's error for Droseras?

and , and s, which rarely produce death, simply because they are not sufficiently abundant, as a general rule, to become largely consumed by the creatures on the runs.