[... and by the last mail I had the pleasure to receive a letter from the Doctor, in which he stated that the flower referred to Eupatorium is Vernonia cynopioides (Walpers)1, and that Erigeron trifurcatum2 is Vittadinia triloba (De Candolle). The first of these Dr. Mueller found rather common during Mr. Gregory’s expedition in East and North Australia, but he adds that the genus is not represented in Australia Felix, New Zealand, Tasmania, or South and West Australia as far as known. V. triloba, (D. C.), he says, is one of the most common and polymorphous plants.]3
Erigeron trifurcatum
Eupatorium
Vernonia cynopioides
Vittadinia triloba
Vernonia cyanopioides?
Erigeron trifurcata?
Woolls continued his letter to the Editor: ‘As these composites grow plentifully in the neighbourhood of Parramatta, it is satisfactory to know their proper position in the vegetable kingdom, and I feel indebted to Dr. Mueller for clearing up the little inaccuracy which has prevailed respecting them.’
Letter not found. For the text given here, see Sydney morning herald, 27 November 1857, p. 2. In a letter to the Editor dated 25 November 1857, William Woolls wrote: ‘In my letter on the Asteraceae of the district, I alluded to two genera, viz., Eupatorium and Erigeron, as being common in this neighbourhood. In making the statement, I relied upon certain coloured drawings in the possession of the Rev. R. L. King, which were said to have been marked in pencil by the late Allan Cunningham. Having forwarded a copy of my letter to Dr. F. Mueller, Government Botanist, at Melbourne, I received a very kind communication from that gentleman, in which he expressed some doubt as to the plants in question, and requested me to send him some specimens of them for examination. This I did forthwith...’. Woolls’s letter then continued as above.
Please cite as “FVM-57-11-00a,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on