The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ Herewith you will receive three photographs, showing the exuberant growth of Nymphaea gigantea in the Richmond River. ¶ This picture was taken by ¶ Walter Campbell ¶ , Esq, the Director of the Ag...

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93.12.00c

Plant names

Nymphaea coerulea
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- Australian Plant Name Index
Nymphaea gigantea
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- Australian Plant Name Index
Nymphaea stellata
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Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to the Gardeners' Chronicle, 1893-12 [93.12.00c]. 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/1890-6/1893/93-12-00c-final.odt>, accessed June 4, 2026

Letter not found. The text given here is from ' ', Gardeners' chronicle , 24 February 1894, p. 237 (B94.02.05). It is introduced by ' Baron Sir Ferd. von Mueller sends the following note relating to this fine plant illustrated in our last issue:—'.

The illustration published on 17 February1894, p. 205, was not one of the Richmond River. It is captioned ' , as growing in the lagoon in the Brisbane Botanic Garden' and the accompanying article opens 'Among the most beautiful as well as the largest of the Water-Lilies is the Australian blue . We owe to Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller some beautiful photographs of this Lily in various parts of Australia, and we now reproduce an illustration of the plant as growing in the Brisbane Botanic Garden.' Although implied, it is not explicit that the illustration is one of those sent by M, but on the assumption that it was, the item is dated to December 1893 as the latest plausible date that the letter could have been sent in time for the illustration to be engraved and published on 17 February.

Herewith you will receive three photographs, showing the exuberant growth of in the Richmond River.

NSW.

This picture was taken by Walter Campbell, Esq, the Director of the Agricultural Department of N.S.W. This species of Nymphaea is the largest of all, although it grows almost constantly in company with N. coerulea (N. stellata) in tropical Australia. As I pointed out nearly forty years ago,

B61.05.02, p. 141, where the species is said to extend to 30° S. In B58.05.01, p. 142, Nelumbium speciosum is specifically mentioned as reaching 'east Australian extra-tropical latitudes'; the range of is described there as 'the warmer zones of Australia'.

it extends several degrees of latitude further southwards, reaching the Clarence River in an extra-tropic region, to which N. coerulea does not penetrate. This gorgeous water-plant would be hardy in the lowlands of south Europe and similar mild regions outside of the tropics.