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95.03.00b

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to the Leader, 1895-03 [95.03.00b]. 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/1890-6/1895/95-03-00b-final.odt>, accessed June 9, 2026

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Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Answers to correspondents', Leader, 9 March 1895, p. 9 (B95.03.02). It is introduced by
Sample of Grass .— H .T., Upper Everton, writes: — "Would you kindly classify the enclosed specimen of grass, which, I believe, were it better known, would be extensively cultivated for cattle fodder. It Is a prolific seed bearer; each seed throwing up an immense number of stems, thick and succulent, of which cattle are very fond, luxuriates in gravelly river flats, growing sometimes, under favorable conditions, to the height of 4 feet or more, and will even thrive in heaps of river gravel, placed in dry positions among the hills, or dry clay banks, appearing to resist heat well, as far as observed in the dry districts of the north-east. Very little moisture causes the seeds to germinate, sometimes in 24 hours, when its growth is very rapid. It will stand close feeding." The grass, Baron von Mueller informs us, is the Pannum Crux Galli, [typesetter's error for Panicum Crus Galli ?] vernacularly known as Cockshin Grass, and it is the variety without long prickles to the spikes, therefore not an objectionable form of this grass.
All the praise bestowed by your correspondent on this grass is well deserved. It is a thankful p lant, both in culture and naturalisation, and i n our happy clime we can h a v e it all the year round, whereas in cold zones it is grown as an annual, and gives even there an appreciable return in the sh ort, war m season. Originally the P anuu m
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Typesetter's error for Panicum?
came from the countries at the Mediterranean Sea and th e war mer regions of Asia, but for centuries i t became already naturalised in America, and we had it here almost since the commencement of colonisation, as by the m i n ute hair like spikes the grain bearing particles adhere readily to the e m bo ll a g es. The grain serves also well for small cage birds. This grass is of short duration, but it is always re-established readily from it s dropping seeds.
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The same column also contains the following entry:
Specimen of Grass.— Observer, Wangoon.— The grass sent from Wangoon, Baron von Mueller states, is also one of t he forms of th e ver y variable Pam iu m Oxus Gall [typesetter's error for Panicum Crus Galli ] , so that what h e said about the specimen sent by H T., of Egerton ( sic ?) , will apply also to this one. If the abor i gine s could hav e had this grass centuries ago, it might have helped in leading them up gradually to rural pursuits. At all events it would have aided in sustaining them.
Panuum