Ferdinand von Mueller

29/3/88

Herewith, dear Mr Ridley, I beg to send you fragments of two Papuan orchids, taken from plants in the horticultural Establishment of Mr Benj. Gulliver of Townsville, after whom I should like one to be named, the large-flowered Spec. of Dendrobium seemingly being new.

1

No Dendrobium species named after Gulliver has been found (IPNI, accessed 2 October 2023).

But as I am trying to bring the difficult “Key”

2

B88.05.03.

to a speedy conclusion, I shall have no leisure to enter on a critical examination of these spec. Dendrobium so send them to you, who has gained the most recent experience on them. This will give you also an opportunity, to set right the nomenclature of Dendrobium Johnsoniae and D. Macfarlanei, as described by myself.

3

See M to H. Ridley, 21 February 1887, and M to H. Ridley,17 May 1887.

I hope you will be able to give Mr Forbes a generic list of his plants; that is really all he wants for his volume of travels.

4

Henry Forbes' s only volume of travels was Forbes (1885), dealing with his travels in the East Indies from 1878 to 1883.

He will have seen a Vitis named by Planchon after him, from a specimen forwarded by me to Montpellier

5

No eponymous Vitaceae species have been found in IPNI (accessed 2 October 2023). Planchon (1887) did describe some new species in the same family from specimens that had been collected by Forbes in New Guinea and sent by M, for example Cissus rhamnoidea , listing the specimen seen as 'H.-O Forbes in Herb. Melburn.' (p. 516) and C. nervosa, from the specimen 'H.-O. Forbes, in herb. Mus. Phytol. Melburn., n° 772, ann. 1885-6' (p. 564).

- Radlkofer can furnish the names of his Sapindaceae; he had them all long ago. I will soon do something to a portion of the Dicotyledones.

Let me hope that Mr Britten

6

James Britten.

will deal generously and unprejudiced by mere […]

7

and unprejudiced by mere […] interlined, one illegible word.

with my Key in reviewing it; the explanatory essay will likely appear in May.

8

See B89.05.04. The paper was read before the Royal Society of NSW in October 1888. See Lucas, Maroske & Brown-May (2006), pp. 46-50.

You know of course that all other languages have the diminutive for flower heads. Ovulary is better than germen, ovary absolutely incorrect. Beak, wings, head, claws, palate, throat, vagina, abortion, spur, mouth, ear, chin, beard, lips &c should be restricted to zoologic organography

Best compl. to Mr Carruthers.

9

Written in the left margin of the back of the folio.

Please publish the Dendrobium if new, in Mr Brittens journal

10

Journal of botany. Written in the central margin of the back of the folio.