The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ Recently a huge Stump-Fern was ¶ brought away from its seclusion in the Dandenong Ranges, near Port Philip. ¶ After the removal of its hundreds of fronds, the stump-like trunk weighed 2900 pounds...

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81.06.00

Plant names

Todea
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Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to the Editor of the Gardeners' chronicle, 1881-06. 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/1880-9/1881/81-06-00-final.odt>, accessed June 4, 2026

Letter not found. The text given here is from 'A colossal ', Gardeners' chronicle, 13 August 1881, p. 20 (B81.08.01). It is dated to June as the latest likely date that it could have been sent to have been published in this issue.

Recently a huge Stump-Fern was

The published version interpolates: 'writes Baron von Mueller'.

brought away from its seclusion in the Dandenong Ranges, near Port Philip.

Vic.

After the removal of its hundreds of fronds, the stump-like trunk weighed 2900 pounds. It required to be dragged by a train of oxen out of its recess, where it may have grown for more than a century to accumulate the substance of its massive stem. This monster Fern is to be placed in the conservatory of the city, where the mycologist, Rev. Heinrich Tode, so long laboured for the Church and for science also, and where his mortal remains are buried.

Schwerin, Mecklenburg. See Brockmüller (1883) for a discussion prompted by the specimen, which was placed in the warm house of the Grünhausgarten.

A brisk trade in large s ought to arise, as the marvellous specimen at Kew must have attracted the attention of professional and amateur horticulturists for many years after its removal thence from the Melbourne Botanic Garden.

At Hooker's request to 'my friend the Baron', M sent a specimen in May 1869 (see M to J. Hooker, 19 May 1869, and M to J. Hooker, 26 May 1869 (in this edition as 69-05-26a)), 'so that … Kew was possessed of the finest specimen in Europe, transmitted moreover free of cost of transport or voyage' (Curtis's botanical magazine, vol. 98, tab. 5954, 1872).

Giant s may be obtained from South Australia (Mount Lofty Ranges), various places in Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland, but specimens weighing over half a ton (without fronds) are rare. This colossal Fern has also the recommendation of bearing a considerable amount of frost, so that in temperatures like that of Arran it could be grown in the open air. In South Africa it seems never to attain to the enormous weight of extra large Australian specimens.

The text was reprinted in Philadelphia by Thomas Meehan in Gardener's monthly and horticulturist, July 1882, p. 215 (B82.07.03). Meehan's text does not attribute the first sentence of this transcription as a direct quotation of M, but uses it as an introduction. It introduces an error by changing the text to 'This monster fern is to be placed in the conservatory of Melbourne where the mycologist, Rev. Heinrich Tode, … buried'. It has a concluding comment: ' s are often seen in American collections of exotic ferns, usually kept always under glass cases, as it seems impossible for them to thrive anywhere but in a close and damp atmosphere. In such glass cases however, they thrive amazingly, and those who have them usually feel that they have something to be proud of when they exhibit them to admiring friends. — Ed. G. M.'.