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RBG Kew, Kew Correspondence, Australia, Mueller, 1882-1890, ff. 158-9. 85.09.20

Plant names

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Joseph Hooker, 1885-09-20. 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/1880-9/1885/85-09-20-final.odt>, accessed May 17, 2026

1
Annotated with a large X in purple pencil to left of date; and in left margin, f. 158, front, in pencil: Both lots of seeds arrd. fresh & sound | Will report on germination W.W.' [William Watson].
20/9/85
Herewith, dear Sir Joseph, I beg to send you fresh seeds of the Arnhem's Land Livistona experimentally, some in Waxpaper according to Goeppert's method, some in ordinary paper. It would be of interest to ascertain whether, those in the Waxpaper will endure their vitality during transmission better than the others.
As you wrote to me about Australian Palms inquiringly before, I would like to add, that the lamented Bentham rightly united
Livistona Ramsayi

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and
Licuala Muelleri

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.
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Bentham (1863-78), vol 7, p. 135.
That is a Palm restricted to the East -Coast of Queensland, while
Livistona inermis

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under which L. Ramsayi is placed in the Kew Catalogue (or Report)
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R eport on the progress and conditions of the Royal gardens at Kew, 1882. Appendix II, p. 65-6, lists the Livistona spp cultivated at Kew. The entry for
Livistona inermis

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is 'L. inermis Br (L. Ramsayi, F. Muell.) Tropical Australia'.
'The Report of the Director on the Progress and Condition of the Royal Gardens at Kew for the year 1882 was unavoidably delayed. It bears date only from November 1, 1883, and was not published until well on in 1884' (Nature, vol. 30, pp. 316-7 (31 July 1884)).
belongs to the North -Coast exclusively. As Bentham thought L. humilis seems merely the young state of L. inermis;
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Bentham (1863-78), vol 7, p. 146.
the latter is neither unarmed; so both names are misleading and these two palms might well be united under the name Livistona Leichhardtii.
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See Dowe (2018a) for a history of the name Livistona leichhardtii including an account of the doubts M expressed in published sources.
At last I have some hope of getting flowers of the Australian Licuala, so that its generic position may become definitely settled.
Regardfully your
Ferd. von Mueller.
Have you two really distinct fan palms from North Austr growing in Kew? The Central Australian L. Mariae has globular fruits. Drude writes, that the genus
Normanbya

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, indicated by myself, should be accepted.
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Annotated in pencil in the LH margin next to the postscripts: We have two species so called -i.e. L. australis and L. humilis , but they seem identical in general appearance. W.W. [William Watson].
When the heavy extrawork for the London-Exhibition is over,
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Colonial and Indian Exhibition, London, 1886.
more specimens from the supplem. Australian collections of dried plants shall be sent to Kew.