Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Letter not found. The text given here is from 'The plant life of Western Australia', West Australian, 13 April 1896, p. 6 (B96.04.01). It is introduced by ' A gentleman in Perth has received a communication from Sir Ferdinand Von Mueller, the distinguished Australian botanist, having reference to fodder plant life in Western Australia from which we have been permitted to take the following excerpt for publication:—'. M's reference to the Spring setting in suggests that the letter was written some considerable time before this extract was published, before the onset of the previous Spring; it is therefore dated here to August 1895.

The letter was widely reprinted, with minor changes such as replacement of 'Editor of the West Australian' by 'editors of the newspapers'.

You could render me a kind service if you could ask any pastoralist near Champion Bay,

2

WA.

or who might pass on inland, to send me small samples of the various herbage on which herds and flocks delight to feed. From such material I could then enter new notes for the tenth edition of my work of 'Select Plants' for industrial culture and naturalisation and the name of the contributor would be given.

3

No new English edition was published, the final edition that M himself published being B95.08.04, but see the delayed Portuguese edition, B05.13.01.

Perhaps the Editor of the West Australian would kindly render my wish known publicly, and also my desire to obtain from settlers in your colony, particularly those of the far inland region, minute plantlets, such as the spring brings out, which are so easily gathered and transmitted. These would be of more novel interest than larger plants unless freshwater weeds and saltbushes. Such aid so easily and cheaply rendered by many of the stations would unable

4

enable?

me to trace still further the geographical distribution of the West Australian plants, which only can be done by the co-operation of numerous widely scattered amateurs, ladies and gentlemen, each of whom will get due credit in my works for discoveries made. I make this appeal once more as the spring sets in, because I cannot hope to pass through many vernal seasons more at this very late evening of my busy day of life. In return for such sendings as I perhaps now for the last time may ask for, I will forward fresh seeds of plants prominently useful and for a great part new to your colony.

5

See also M to 'a gentleman in Perth', August 1895 (in this edition as 95-08-00b), which may be part of the same letter.