The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ … I now express once more my high sense of appreciation of the services which he has rendered to the science of plants, not only through his admirable teachings, but also by his applying it to spec...

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95.08.17b

Plant names

Babingtonia
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Baeckea
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Helipterum Manglesii
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Rhodanthe Manglesii
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Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Anna Maria Babington, 1895-08-17 [95.08.17b]. 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/1890-6/1895/95-08-17b-final.odt>, accessed June 9, 2026

Letter not found. For the text given here, see Memorials journal and botanical correspondence of Charles Cardale Babington (Cambridge, 1897), p. xlvi. The extract is preceded by '(To Mrs. C. C. B.)'. It follows an extract from M's letter to Irwin Lynch (in this edition as 95-08-17a) that is dated 'Melbourne, August 17th, 1895', the two being printed jointly under the heading 'From Herr Baron Sir Ferdinand v. Müller, F.R.S.'.

… I now express once more my high sense of appreciation of the services which he has rendered to the science of plants, not only through his admirable teachings, but also by his applying it to special research both in the study rooms and in the fields of free nature, and this unabatingly through so long a space of time, as to render him through the autumn of his life the Nestor of the Linnean Society. As the genus of our never-to-be-forgotten friend, Professor Lindley, has been transferred to the Linnean genus , it is my intention to bestow that name on the first new genus which may here in Australia be discovered among plants, and which would be worthy of dedication to an illustrious savant. … Since the last fifty years and more, is cultivated in Britain as a summer annual, and in conservatories at all times, what may be considered the most graceful and handsome of all everlastings, the Helipterum .

In B66.12.04, p. 200, M wrote that within the genus Helipterum he included Rodanthe; see also Bentham (1863-78), vol. 3, p. 640, who used M's combination . M is likely to have written 'Helipterum (Rhodanthe) Manglesii' in the MS indicating that the species was also lnown as .

As collaterally I am identified with this charming flower, perhaps you may like to place a wreath of it occasionally on the tomb of your celebrated consort, which would signify, that here at the Antipodes we fully recognise the important bearings of Professor Babington's discoveries and work towards biomorphic knowledge.