To William Hooker   15 September 1857

Melbourne, bot. garden 15. Sept. 57.

Dear Sir William.

Manyfold additional duties during the past month left little time for progress in my phytographical labours, but I hope to have soon the busy spring-season behind me, and to renew my examination of the Australian plants with fresh ardour. I have to express my gratitude for two kindful communications from you, for a letter arriving by the "Emeu" via South Africa, and for part of a printed letter of mine from your journal pages, which reached me by the last Suez-mail pr. Simla.

I fully coincide in all your views, and most cordially place on my own responsibility any of my notes and my observations at your disposal. Thus for instance I do not think, that the publication of my essay on tropical Eucalypti¹ needs to be postponed until I arrive in England, altho' I may have failed in recognizing a few old species of that intricate genus. Several of my botanical friends in Australia are enquiring eagerly about its issue, all approve of the cortical system, which I adopted for the first time in arranging the species of tropical Australia, and they wish to extend its application over those species, which surround them. Mr Gregory in Western Australia, Mr Oldfield in Tasmania, two or three gentlemen in New South Wales, and as many in remote parts of Victoria and South Australia, all intend to subject these obscure trees to a renewed scrutiny upon different principles If properly supported by Government, I am quite ready to devote a few hundred pounds of my private means for drawings of all the species, and to endeavour to compile a work, which will be of practical utility to the colonists. I do however not deny, that for determing² spricks of herbariums an artificial clavis will be found preferable, but I think that even then the observer will be guided much more safely by the insertion of the fruit valves, than by the proportionate length of the lid. Nor do I expect the proposed arrangement to be inexceptional, particularly in appliance to Hemiphloiae. Nature with an easy pace transgresses always the artificial boundaries, into which we endeavour to ennarrow her. But after 10 years observation of these trees in Australia, I feel yet convinced, that for practical utility in this country the cortical system will supersede any other hitherto proposed.

Through Dr Sonder (who would be delighted to be favoured with a few of such North-Australian plants of which a multitude of specimens has been collected ), I hope to be able to get as a loan Sieber's Eucalypti for identification.³ If other European Herbaria would extend to me the same favour, I should gladly figure every authentic specimen for my monograph.

On Eupomatia in one of my next letters.⁴

I was much surprised to hear, that the genus Adansonia occurs in India. Through Mr Baines I knew, that the Senegal species extends as far as the new territory of the dutch Colonists in South Africa (who call it the Cream of tartar tree) but I was also not acquainted with its occurrence on the East coast of that continent. Of Adansonia digitata an excellent woodcut is given in Bennett's Wanderings in New South Wales &c,⁵ which exhibits well the striking character of the African species in regard to the length of the fruit-stalks, whilst the beautiful oilpaintings of Adansonia Gregorii from the hand of Mr Baines sufficiently prove, what an effect the shortness of its peduncles has upon the whole feature of the tree.⁶ Endlicher in his genera plantarum⁷ did not allude to the long peduncles of the African Boabab and thus I omitted the contrary character in the first note on the Australian one. That I found a considerable discrepancy in the structure of the anthers of our compared with those of the beautiful plate of the Bot. Magazine,⁸ I think I pointed out already. An interesting question now arises, namely: is the Indian Adansonia (as I presume) identical with the Australian or with the African one, or is it distinct from both? —

Very many thanks for Mr Benthams and Dr Hookers kind information. Is the enlargement of the lower filaments known in any other species of Cassia but the new one allied to C. Fistula?⁹ The occurence of Erythrophloeum in Australia is certainly not without interest. I am longing very much for further information on the genera Barklya and Denisonia, and more yet for the fourth fascicle of the Tasmanian flora.¹⁰ Would you, dear Sir William, extend your kindness so far to me, as to present me with a proof sheet of the text?

I send this time a portion of my review of the North-Australian Acaciae, including the sections Juliferae, Dimidiatae, Pulchellae, Botrycephalae & Gummiferae, and unless unforseen obstacles arise, I hope to finish the notes on this genus previous to the departure of the next mail-steamer. The new tropical Acaciae are much more numerous, than I anticipated, and of many of the known species I have supplementary notes to offer. The section juliferae is replete of novelties; for after a patient perusal of the whole literature on Acacia, 17 species alone of that section can not as known be identified, 3 forming the transit to Dimidiatiae. The known species of the section are A. crassocarpa, A. aulacocarpa, A. Wickhami, A. Cunninghami, A. Leucodendron, A. delibrata & A. julifera. Two species in phyllodia and spikes almost alike to the latter two are totally different in pods and seeds, the fruit differences offering the most reliable characteristics also for the species of this genus. Amongst Dimidiatae I recognize A. holosericea, A. dimidiata & A. latifolia, only two new species having been added to the section, of which one (A. platycarpa) proves to be very remarkable for its broad flatt pods, whilst none of the rest produces fruits of mutual similarity.

No representants of the sections Botryocephalae & Pulchellae were noticed in tropical Australia, but A. polybotrya Bth. and a new species of the Pulchellae-group occur in the subtropical part of Eastern Australia.¹¹

Two Acacias of the Gummiferae group are widely dispersed through the northern parts of Australia, the one closely allied to A. Farnesiana and perhaps not sufficiently distinct, the other a pale little tree with grey corky bark. The latter does not fully accord with the description of A. suberosa.¹²

A rare Acacia from the Buffalo Ranges in this colony (now for the first time flowering in our garden) greatly resembles A. longifolia in appearance, but differs essentially in its flowers and probably also in fruit, for which I shall watch.¹³

I hope that all these notes will be approved of by the great Acacia-monogra[pher.]¹⁴ Should your journal, Sir William, in which you kindfully made already so ample concessions for me, not be able to receive them, I should then be very much obliged, if the manuscript were through Dr Sonder put to Professor F[uernrohrs] disposal, my spare-time being now so much absorbed by the North Australian plants, that it will be otherwise long before I can redeem my promise, of furnishing a contribution to the Ratisbon Ephemerid[i]es.¹⁵

The remaining portion of the Acaciae promises to be not less interesting. Commencing to work on the Uninerves, I find that the true Acacia dodonaeifolia, hitherto seemingly only brought from an uncertain locality by Bauer is according to Mr Wilhelmi's collection a native of the S.W. shores of Spencers Gulf, where Flinders landed whe[n] 55 years ago discovering with Rob. Brown that large inlet.

I hope the excellent Mr Bentham will not look on the new display of Acacia with too great suspicion from former experience. When leaving Adelaide in the early goldperiod (1852) I had to reduce my collections to the smallest volume, there being hardly a shelter to be got in Melbourne at the time. With the understanding that no herbarium name unless supported by manuscript should appear publicly, the Acaciae went to Hamburg unexamined at the time under those names, by which they were entered in the manuscript diaries of my journeys. I had to pack and label specimens late at nights, some times not resting at all, and from hurried packing the unattached labels were, as I find by comparing Mr Benthams notes, also occasionally misplaced. I hope this explanation will raise me somewhat in estimation with him again.¹⁶

The responsible Directorship of the Melbourne bot. garden and my duties as chairman of the horticultural society absorbed lately so much of my time, that I postponed the issue of the first fascicle of the Victoria flora til next year. That we are able to illustrate such a work here properly, will be shown by the enclosed two specimens of Melbourne Lithography.¹⁷ I beg to add also 2 copies for Mr Bentham and Mr Kippist. Receive, my dear Sir William, the warmest wishes, which I can offer to one of my greatest benefactors

Obediently yours Ferd. Mueller.

My supplements to Goodeniaceae, Proteaceae & Polygoneae no doubt safely arrived,¹⁸ also Mr Beckers drawing of Josephinia Eugeneae.¹⁹ I have written since January regularly with every mail.

Acacia aulacocarpa

Acacia crassocarpa

Acacia Cunninghami

Acacia delibrata

Acacia dimidiata

Acacia Farnesiana

Acacia holosericea

Acacia julifera

Acacia latifolia

Acacia Leucodendron

Acacia longifolia

Acacia platycarpa

Acacia polybotrya

Acacia suberosa

Acacia Wickhami

Acacia, sect. Botrycephalae

Acacia, sect. Dimidiatae

Acacia, sect. Gummiferae

Acacia, sect. Juliferae

Acacia, sect. Pulchellae

Adansonia digitata

Adansonia Gregorii

Barklya

Cassia Fistula

Denisonia

Erythrophloeum

Eucalyptus, sect. Hemiphloiae

Eupomatia

Goodeniaceae

Josephinia Eugeneae

Polygoneae

Proteaceae