To William Hooker   13 March 1857

Sydney 13. March 1857

My dear Sir William,

Having forwarded to you 30 letterpages¹ by the "European" I intend principly to introduce through these lines to you my friend Dr Elsey, who has been, as you will remember, our travelling companion during the greater part of the expedition and who is now on his homeway kind enough to take charge of my first descriptive papers resulted from the second part of the expedition and of the first transport of plants and seeds. You will be pleased to find in Mr Elsey a gentleman equally modest amiable and intelligent, and I feel sure he will be able to give you much valuable information on North Australia — for the opportunity of doing so I can not quite supress my envy.

Dr Elsey is also kind enough to promise delivering to you 3 sets of maps accompanied by Mr Gregory's general reports, the second and third you would perhaps obligingly forward to Mr Latrobe and Prof Harvey.² I send also a specimen of Octoclinis Macleayana just at hand, the only one I have left after dissecting 3 cones for the elaboration of a memoir on this pine read before the Victorian Institute last month;³ — this reminds me to ask from your kindness at an convenient time for a copy of Prof Lindley's dissertation on Fitzroya, Dammara, Saxono-Gothaea,⁴ provided you possess it in duplicates.

The box forwarded now contains more than 300 sp. and about 1500 specimens of plants, including all the Cryptogamiae of the last journey. The seeds amount to about 200 kinds, many however in a very scanty supply. You will find the fruits of 2 sp. of Owenia amongst them, which you will miss amongst the specimens. The transmitted set of bot. characters comprises 160 species and 16 genera, amongst which I trust Owenia and Brewsteria⁵ will meet with your approbation. The latter altho' caesalpineous is singular for its affinity to Entada in the structure of the pod.

The long brittle pods are broken into pieces during the journey, which I regret so much more as I was anxious to hear your opinion, whether I have rightly interpreted the nature of the outer coating of the seeds as an exceedingly enlarged epidermis, somewhat analagous to Sterculia, or whether you would rather regard it as an abnormal arillus. The septa are entirely formed by the endocarp, and thus the articuli drop from the replum (separately). The brittle epicarp and mesocarp falls already before. — Seeds are in the colls.

I have the 34 diagnoses of trop. Eucalypti not numbered, in order that the sp. might be arranged according to that of the two systems, to which you will give preference.⁶

In my review of the now forwarded plants, as given in the previous letter, I omitted two Eryngia from Moreton Bay⁷ not identical with E. ovinum or vesiculosum, as well as Helosciadium leptophyllum amongst Umbelliferae. I may here also mention, that at Moreton Bay I noted a Polypodium scarcely discernible from Nephrodium decompositum, except in the want of the indusium. In the collect. on board the Messenger are specimens of Campyloneurum, a genus I think not previously found in Australia, but the sp. seems not to differ from one in New Caledonia.⁸ — Mr Hill contributed a specimen of an Acrostichum found by him on the Brisbane River to the collection, which Mr W. S. M'leay pronounces closely allied to if not identical with Acrostichum flagelliferum Wallich

I just commenced to arrange the Compositae & send you now enclosed a Rhytidosis I believe to be distinct from Rutidosis leiolepis, transact. Vict. Inst. I. p. 131. Its character runs thus

Rutidosis .......

(Sect. Blepharopholis)

Caulibus erectis ramosis cum foliorum pagina infera tomento incano lanuginosis, foliis inferioribus lanceolatis, superioribus omnibusve linearibus acutis sessilibus margine revolutis supra demum glabrescentibus, capitulis hemisphaericis, involucri squamis pluriseriatis, exterioribus subovatis, interioribus lanceolatis, omnibus glabris laevibus, floribus foemineis epapposis, acheniis subovatis truncatis, pappi squamis 9-11 angusto-lanceolatis acutis ciliatis.

In collibus aridis ad flumen Burnett⁹

(Capitula [vix] R. leiolepidis conspicue minora.

Should a comparison with R. leiolepis, which I can here not institute prove it to be distinct I should ask you to be kind enough to name it after Sir Roderick Murchison, who by his exertion to aid the North Austr. expedition has a claim of acknowledgement on all its members.¹⁰ A Murchisonia already existing in conchyology rendered it impossible to create a bot. genus in honor to him. This is certainly but a poor specimen of an in natural state very elegant little everlasting, which seems very rare besides.

This evening I recieved from Mr Hill a set of bot specimens in a fresh state, — but owing to my getting it unfortunately only several days after the steamer arrived, the content has suffered extremely. It contains some charming plants, and as a matter of course I shall send you the best specimens of all. Mr Hill sends me beautiful fruit specimens of Cupania Pseudorchus Ach. Rich. Vitex lignum vitae, Maba laurina, Glycosmis, Cupania xylocarpa &c.

With the next mail I shall feel happy to continue my remarks on the plant[s] examined in the meanwhile.

With my most anxious wishes for your health  and welfare I remain, Sir William,

yours most obediently,

Ferd. Mueller.

I threw with ? a barren species of Labichea rupestris (of which I think L. digitata is a var.) under Hibbertia.

— I am not a little puzzled in recieving from Mr Hill last night specimens of Greevesia cleisocalyx with petals more than half an inch long expanded in the usual way of Malvaceae, by which means this genus becomes already reduced to Pavonia since also in the — what I may call luxuriously developed — flowers the stamens which afforded me the second character of distinction becomes increased to a seemingly infinite number. —

It may appear that the genus was formed either upon insufficient material or upon hasty observation. In vindication of myself I beg however to assure you, Sir William, of the contrary, for when I published my definition of Greevesia¹¹ the plant had flowerished abundantly for two seasons in the Melbourne bot garden without ever opening a single calyx sub antheri! at the same time never notwithstanding failing to produce its regular 5 carpels with perfect embryo. Nor is this — seemingly abnormal but I think typical! state of the species attributable to a cooler climate such as the latitude of Melbourne produces, because I found Greevesia during Mr Gregory's expedition from the Boyn to the Brisbane on a line of country more than 200 miles in extent frequently enough, constantly in flower, constantly with closed calyx constantly with ripe carpels! — and yet I see nothing that entitles Mr Hills plant to more than a luxuriant variety of it, perhaps now produced after the late rains about Moreton Bay by the combination of great moisture and heat. Should it prove distinct from known Pavonias, I hope you will let it retain Dr Greeves name as a [species]

Mr Gregory expresses a great desire of recieving from your kindness a copy of all the bot. information you might be pleased to convey through your journal to the public. I shall be happy to forward it to him, if you would obligingly forward the respective no

Acrostichum flagelliferum

Brewsteria

Campyloneurum

Compositae

Cryptogamiae

Cupania Pseudorchus

Cupania xylocarpa

Dammara

Entada

Eryngia ovinum

Eryngia vesiculosum

Fitzroya

Glycosmis

Greevesia cleisocalyx

Helosciadium leptophyllum

Hibbertia

Labichea digitata

Labichea rupestris

Maba laurina

Malvaceae

Nephrodium decompositum

Octoclinis Macleayana

Owenia

Pavonia

Polypodium

Rhytidosis leiolepis

Saxono-Gothaea

Sterculia

Umbelliferae

Vitex lignum vitae