Royal Exchange Adelaide
22 Nov/ 93
My dear Baron
Under another cover I post you a tin box with four varieties of seeds from the Eastern
watershed near the absurdly named Lake Annean,
the first is a very elegant graceful drooping myal, about 10 ft high from granite
ranges & not abundant the second is a beautiful
(?)
a bush about three ft high leaves not unlike some saltbushes white & rather fleshy
semicircular in shape, flower spike 6 inches long, the third is a very large flowered
(?) as large as a florin about 9 inches in height flower stems numerous, slender,
& bearing abundant blooms the fourth is enclosed & what is it? the present ones are
smaller than usual although usually blue occaisionally a plant with half dozen flowers
shows a large yellow one the seed is difficult to obtain being easily shed a friend
gathered a bunch & put them on the mantel shelf & they kept in good order without
the slightest fading when I saw them a month after & this in a hot canvas tent in
October &
without water
I hope you will succeed in getting them to grow
Had to leave here just before our association gathered
& I sent over from King Georges Sound
a large box of cut blooms but through a bad piece of carelessness our friend Tate
(although advised of them) overlooked the box until all was over & even then they
were in good order, I feel very vexed as they cost me some money to Webb
there & a good deal of trouble to get them over
I have brought over for Tate a fair but very incomplete collection of phanerogamous
plants the exigencies of very rapid travelling preventing my collecting a tithe of
what I saw & the sand plain beyond the Greenough River
I traversed on my return in the dark However I found at Mullewa,
a new railway terminus (that is to be) an enthusiastic flower loving blacksmith &
he is to collect & send a parcel of seeds (with leaves & seed vessels to identify)
to our good friend Holtze
With best wishes for your continuous good health & welfare
Beleive me
my dear Baron
Yours vy ffully
Saml. Dixon
