Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Letter not found. For the text given here, see W. Campbell (1935), pp. 81-2. Campbell does not give a date for the letter, but M's comment about having been thrown into deep mourning 'in the latter part of this month' suggests November 1893 (see n. 2), as does the fact that M sent the photographs he had received from Campbell to the Gardeners' chroncle at about this time (see M to the Gardeners' chronicle, December 1893 (in this edition as 93-12-00c)).

In the latter part of this month, dear Mr. Campbell, I was thrown into deep mourning,

2

M's nephew George Ferdinand St Helen Doughty, his sister Bertha's son, died on 19 November 1893, aged 36 years (Border watch, 22 November 1893, p. 2).

and this disturbed my mind so much from the duties for some days that you only now receive an answer to your kind letter, and the expression of my best thanks for sending me the beautiful photograms of Nymphæa gigantea prepared by yourself, also the large leaf.

3

Letter not found. Campbell had sent M some photographs of Nymphaea at Tuckombil Creek, NSW, having been prompted to do so by William Woolls in a letter of 2 December 1892 published in Campbell (1935), p. 81: 'I had occasion to write to [M] on some other matters', Woolls told Campbell, 'and quoted your remarks about the lily. He seems to have been so much interested in them that instead of answering my questions he has referred only to the extract from your letter, and to the specimen of double Diuris, which young Fitzgerald found on the mountains.' The identity of 'young Fitzgerald' is not certain, but may have been Robert David Fitzgerald (1864-1950), reported by Messmer (1932), p. 240, as being the owner of the drawings made by orchidologist Robert David Fitgerald (1830-1892) for R. Fitgerald (1875-1894).

I knew since 1859 that it extended southward to the Clarence River,

4

NSW.

and it does not seem to have been found further southward. My reason for communicating with our esteemed friend Dr. Woolls on the subject arose from an idea that perhaps Nymphaea caerulea (better known from its more recent name, N. stellata) might also occur in New South Wales. Both these superb plants are companions through much of Eastern Queensland and Northern Australia, the N. cae rulea being generally rather smaller and having the leaves not serrated and differing in some other respects.