Bot. Garden, Melbourne
9. Jan. 1858.
Prof. Alph. de Candolle
Sir,
Having received your friendly letter dated 16. Sept. 18571 this day, I hasten to assure you, that the manifestations of kindness and satisfaction from so great a man as the author of the prodromus2 have been a source of great pleasure to myself.
I fully concurr with you, that the employment of camels and (when the geological feature of the country admits of it) the boring of Artesian wells would greatly facilitate the exploration of the Australian Interior desert.
Not only shall I feel extremly happy to forward to Geneve specimens of plants and copies of scientific publications issued in Melbourne, but in my position as director of this garden I shall be extremly gratified to effect anually an exchange of seed with the bot Garden of Geneve.
Since some years I have been collecting materials for a monograph of Eucalyptus,3 for the promotion of which I should be thankful to receive that fascicle of the IX vol. of Mem. Genev., which contains the plates of that genus, furnished by your immortal father.4
I am delighted to hear, that the famous prodromus is progressing favourably. The elaboration of the order Euphorbiaceae will involve enormous labour. In tropical Australia alone 52 species of this family have been discovered, comprising the genera Euphorbia, Excaecaria, Omalanthus, Coelebogyne, Elachocroton, Tragia, Petalostigma, Echinocroton n.g., Acalypha, Amperea, Mappa, Baloghia, Ricinocarpus, Bertya, Adriana, Beyera,5 Croton, Monococcus n.g., Briedelia, Phyllanthus, Melanthesa, Synostemon n.g. allied to Phyllanthus, Micrantheum, Leptonema, Glochidion, Poranthera, Elachopetalum n.g.6 Of all new species and genera a full msc. account has been forwarded to Sir W. Hooker.
Such excellent men as Prof. Meisner & Mr Bentham no doubt will decor also the new volumes of the prodromus with their labours. I ventured to offer myself a humble contribution, supplementing Meisner Proteaceae, the msc being forwarded to Sir Will. Hooker.7 I enclose a fragment of Grevillea Preissii Meisn (G. thyrsantha8 mihi in coll. distrib) from the desert between the Murray River & St. Vincents Gulf, which even if not different from the West Austr. plant, will still be interesting as having a much wider range, than in proteaceae is usual.
I beg also to offer on this occasion a fragment of Choretrum spicatum, a very rare plant, which may be welcome for the Santalaceae.
I am astonished and regret extremly that after all the expenses for the charts & letters according to the regulations were prepared by myself in Sydney, still so heavy an expense should have been incurred by them. I will not fail in sending in future any communication either directly to Mr Pamplin or Sir W. Hooker.
Having been fortunate enough to discover on the Upper Victoria River lat 18° S a new and very distinct annual Josephina (J. Eugeniae) of which I forwarded through Sir W. Hooker a drawing and description to His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon, I should feel obliged to have from Prof Decaisne, who took some interest in the genus Josephinia, whether his majesty deemed my notes perhaps worthy of being committed to a French journal. Your admirable Géographie botanique raisonnée9 has given me much valuable information.
With the expression of my greatest veneration for you I conclude, Sir, these lines as your most attached
Ferd. Mueller.
Choretrum spicatum. n. sp.
glabrum, inerme, ramis crassis teretibus vix patentibus indistincte striatis, nascentibus copiose foliatis, foliis e latiore basi lineari-subulatis recurvo-patentibus, adultis deltoideis acuminatis appressis, floribus solitariis sessilibus pluribractetis spicas terminales vel infra-apicales saepe elongatas constituentibus, bracteis fuscis scariosis imbricatis.
Kangaroo Island.
Species singularis. Folia 1''' saepe excedentia. Spicae e long inquo eas Polygonorum simulantes.
Choretri species genuinas nunc quinque cognovimus: Ch. glomeratum a litore occidentali usque ad sinum St. Vincents Gulf extendentem, Ch. chrysanthum inter fluvum Murray & sinum St. Vincent restrictum, Ch. lateriflorum a terra Gipps land ad sinum Moreton Bay occurrentem, immo alpium partis satis elevatas occupantem, denique C. spicatum & sequentem: Choretrum oxycladum, n. sp., glabrum, aphyllum, ramosissimum, ramulis teretiusculis rigidis spinescentibus prominenter striatis parum patentibus, pedunculis lateralibus bracteas longitudine subaequantibus 1-3 floris, bracteis subtilissime ciliolatis fere in cupulam concretis.
Port Lincoln. C. Wilhelmi, ubicum Santalo acuminato (Fusano acuminato R. Br) promiscuecrescit —
Choretrum Preissianum & Ch. spicatum ad Leptomerias transtuli.10
Acalypha
Adriana
Amperea
Baloghia
Bertya
Beyera
Briedelia
Choretrum lateriflorum
Choretrum oxycladum
Choretrum Preissianum
Choretrum spicatum
Coelebogyne
Croton
Echinocroton
Elachocroton
Elachopetalum
Eucalyptus
Euphorbia
Euphorbiaceae
Excaecaria
Glochidion
Grevillea Preissii
Grevillea thyrsantha
Josephina Eugeniae
Leptomeria
Leptonema
Mappa
Melanthesa
Micrantheum
Monococcus
Omalanthus
Petalostigma
Phyllanthus
Poranthera
Proteaceae
Ricinocarpus
Santalaceae
Synostemon
Tragia
Please cite as “FVM-58-01-09,” 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 25 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/58-01-09