The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: [Once upon a time it was stated that there were no double flowers in Australia, then that they were rare, then that they only existed in cultivated plants, and that Australia was young in cultural mat...

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87.12.00d

Plant names

Eriostemon
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Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to the Gardeners' Chronicle, 1887-12 [87.12.00d]. 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/1880-9/1887/87-12-00d-final.odt>, accessed May 9, 2026

Letter not found. The text given here is from ' obovalis fl. Pl. ' , Gardeners' chronicle , 21 January 1888, p. 84. It is dated to early December as the latest it could have been sent to have been reported in this issue.

[Once upon a time it was stated that there were no double flowers in Australia, then that they were rare, then that they only existed in cultivated plants, and that Australia was young in cultural matters, therefore there was a scarcity of double flowers. Most of these propositions have been overthrown by the progress of discovery, so that now-a-days it would be easy to find acceptance for the belief that the proportion of wild double flowers is about the same in Australia as anywhere else. Be this as it may Baron von Mueller has lately sent us flowers of an bearing numerous double flowers towards the ends of the branches.]

The item concludes with comments upon its potential as a greenhouse plant propagated from cuttings, and a description of the nature of the doubling.

Both the Leader (Melbourne), 3 March 1888, p. 14, and the Australasian (Melbourne), 3 March 1888, p. 21, mention this report in their horticultural pages.