Document information

Physical location:

RB MSS M46, Library, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. 81.07.11

Plant names

Preferred Citation:

William Woolls to Ferdinand von Mueller, 1881-07-11. 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/1880-9/1881/81-07-11-final.odt>, accessed June 4, 2026

1
MS found with a specimen of Cyathea cunninghamii from the Dandenong Ranges collected in October 1879 (MEL 224426). The pages are enclosed within a sheet on which M has written: 'Antrophyli positio ad Grammitim genus potius sectionalis quam [generica] Hemitelia fere eadem ratione stat ad Cyatheam, quam Nephrodium ad Aspidium, et genus seorsum considerari nequit.' [The position of Antrophylum [i.e. Antrophyum?] in relation to the genus Grammitis is more  sectional than generic, in much the same way as Hemitelia stands in relation to Cyathea and Nephrodium to Aspidium, and [it] cannot be considered as a separate genus.] This has a pencil line drawn through it.
Richmond N.S.W.
July 11th 1881
My dear Baron,
I have read your letter
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Letter not found.
& forwarded it to Mr Shepherd. I think that he ought to be satisfied with your candid explanation, & cease to say in effect with his namesake of old " Nil nostri miserere ?"
3
'Have you no pity for me?' (Virgil, Eclogue 2, line 7, a querulous lament sung by the shepherd Corydon).
You have done all you can, & you had better now let the Pastorals alone.
The Revd Tenison-Woods has sent me a copy of Mr Bailey's recent work "The Fern World of Australia"
4
Bailey (1881).
It is, as might be expected, a great improvement on his former book,
5
Bailey (1874).
seeing that he has had the advantage of studying the subject as set forth in the Flora Australiensis by Mr Bentham & yourself.
6
The ferns were treated in Bentham (1863-78), vol. 7, published in 1878.
I think he was wise in giving up his former classification & nomenclature, & in adopting the method approved by you.
In the preface, he acknowledges his obligations to your works amongst others; but I see that he differs from the views enunciated by you in some of the species. As I found some fault with the method & nomenclature of his first book,
7
Wooll's unsigned review, Sydney morning herald , 13 April 1874, p. 6, is scathing about the volume, which 'would be impossible to recommend without some caution to the student of Australian ferns'.
he ignores me altogether! He suppresses Alsophila Woollsiana , & takes no notice of my remarks on A. Cooperi
8
See ‘The ferns of Australia’ in Woolls (1879), p. 195. Woolls elaborated his remarks in Woolls (1882), published in April 1883 (Anonymous (1929).
which he also joins with A. Australis . As he has never had an opportunity of seeing A. Cooperi in its native haunts, he cannot recognise the peculiar marks by which it is separated from A. Australis & A. Leichhardtiana , but he might have referred to my notes respecting this & some other species. I see that he goes back to the old orthography of
Notholaena

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, & he makes
Aspidium tenericaule

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= Polypodium pallidum . The fact is that this fern & also one form of A. decompositum are frequently exindusiate, but I suppose from habit & analogy, Hooker placed them with Aspidium . By the latest inquiries, I find also that Alsophila & not Dicksonia is the tallest of our tree ferns. If he had consulted my two articles on Australian ferns,
9
The specific articles have not been identified, but Woolls contributed a series of articles on Aystralian Ferns to the Sydney morning herald from September 1865 to January 1866, and to the Horticultural magazine and gardeners' and amateurs' calendar between November 1866 and June 1868 (Gilbert (1985), p. 126), each of which he may have conceived as a whole. He is unlikely to mean his preview of the ferns treated in Bentham (1863-78), vol . 7, although it did mention distribution of some genera listed in this paragraph (Woolls (1878)).
he might have avoided some inaccuracies & given a better range of N.S.W. species. For instance Ophioglossum pendulum should be stated as belonging to the northern parts of N.S.W. Schizaea rupestris found near Parramatta, also Todea Fraseri .
Trichomanes venosum

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grows in crevices of rocks, as well as on the caudices of tree-ferns. Dicksonia antarctica occurs at Tomah, Mittagong R., & Illawarra, but not 50 feet. D. davallioides also at Tomah. Lindsaea trichmanoides is found at the Kurrajong, & L. incisa at Clarence River; Pteris longifolia in a bay near Sydney;
Lomaria alpina

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at Manero; Blechnum laevigatum near Parramatta; Asplenium Trichomanes in the Southern-parts of N.S.W.; A. furcatum Blue Mountains; A. bulbiferum , Tomah & Mittagong; Aspidium ramosum , Illawarra; A. unitum near Cook's river;
Grammitis leptophylla

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, Mudgee & Cowra; & Lycopodium densum , Manly Beach & Blue Mountains.
10
All places named are in NSW.
From these instances, I am of opinion, that the habitats which he gives, might be considerably improved, but on the whole, I must say that his book is calculated to prove highly useful, & I intend to write to the papers to that effect.
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Wooll's unsigned review concluded that 'on the whole, "The Fern World of Australia" is a most valuable instalment to the botany of this country, and is calculated to secure for Mr Bailey a name amongst the pteridologists of the age' (Sydney mail, 16 July 1881, p. 119).
I am not offended with him for passing me over, as perhaps, I was too hard upon him on a former occasion, & did not do him sufficient justice. His omission of all reference to my articles & the suppression of A. Woollsiana have amused me rather than otherwise. I am getting too old now to care about these things, & I do not wish you to allude to them in your writings. Whether A. Woollsiana is a good species or not, you are the best judge, but I am sure that A. Cooperi differs specifically from A. Australis . He dedicates his book to T. Woods. Why not to F.M.?
Yours very sincerely
W. Woolls
no (1)
I can easily imagine, that, in a suit of dried specimens, there may be a difficulty in drawing the line between Alsophila australis and A. Cooperi , but when you see them growing in proximity to each other they appear distinct species. In the former, the fronds in falling off leave behind them the rough bases of the raches, whereas in A. Cooperi , as the fronds fall off, they leave pale oval scars all down the caudex. On the Blue Mountains (if not generally), the caudex of A. Cooperi is more slender than that of A. australis , not so rough to the touch, & more easily broken. According to Sir W. Macarthur the blacks of Illawarra had different names for these ferns (Beeow-wang & Denn-nangue), & he states that, in that locality, the midribs of the fronds are yellow & quite smooth. On the Blue Mountains, these marks are not so well defined, but the midribs are of a lighter colour & not so rough. A. Cooperi is not so stout a species as A. australis , nor are the fronds so large. Then, again, there is a difference between the chaffy scales of the species, those of A. Cooperi being smooth & very similar to the scales of A. excelsa , whilst A. australis is almost destitute of scales. In the latter, the texture of the frond is firmer, & sometimes glaucous underneath. I believe, however, that the age of the fern, & the amount of shade & water which it enjoys, have a great effect in these matters. The veins of the fronds in A. Cooperi are generally more forked than those of A. Australis , though not so much so as in A. excelsa . By the way, I see Smith
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J. Smith (1866).
calls A. Leichhhardtiana " A. Moorei ", & he says that the species was first discovered by Mr Moore!! (p. 321.) In another part of his book p. 245, he reduces A. Cooperi to A. excelsa . This cannot be, because the latter is a much more robust species, very rapid in its growth , & much more forked in the venetion. At Cabbage Tree Hollow (Kurrajong), the three Alsophilas ( Australis , Cooperi , & Leichhardtiana ), as well as Dicksonia antarctica , all grow near each other. A. excelsa belongs to Norfolk Island & Queensland.
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no (1) … Norfolk Island & Queensland is on a separate sheet, similar to the sheets on which the main letter is written.
I could imagine that Alsophila Cooperi might be a small variety of A. excelsa , but not of A. Australis . The venation of the first two is more forked, than that of A. australis
Yours in haste
W. Woolls
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I could imagine … W. Woolls is on a separate slip of paper, the bottom part of a sheet from which the top has been cut off leaving the tails of a couple of letters showing. It may not be part of the same letter.
P.S. I have lately seen
Alsophila Cooperi

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. It seems marked by the pale, oval, scars on the caudex, & also the chaffy scales
15
This postscript is on a separate sheet of paper and may not be part of the same letter.