To George Bentham1    15 June 1858

Melbourne bot Garden,

15 June 1858

My dear Mr Bentham.

I have to express my warm thanks for your friendly revisal of the Acaciae; which I brought from North Australia. My paper thus having received the stamp of the highest authority, will no doubt be acceptable to Botanists.2

I would ask a very great favor from you, which no botanist but yourself could confer with equal facility, namely letting me profit from your unrivalled knowledge of Caesalpineae,3 to learn whether what I ventured to call Barklya syringifolia (a noble tree of East Australia) is to be regarded as a good genus. 4 It does not agree with any in Endlicher's Genera.5 Dr Sonder pronounces it as such, but refers for confirmation to your higher authority. So I hope you will give judgement as Chief Justice. We have this tree in cultivation & I should like to enter it into my printed garden catalogue, besides that I wished to pay the Governor of this Colony a compliment for the multifarious kindness, which I experienced from his Excellency.

Can I in any way be of service to you pray give me your commands.

Humbly yours

Ferd. Mueller.

 

Geo. Bentham Esq.

Boultibroke Presteign6

Ferd Mueller

 

Acacia

Barklya syringifolia

Caesalpineae

1
In addition to a cancellation mark on the MS stamp there are six postmarks on the MS: Allensmore (n. d.); Kew (n. d.); London, 17 August 1858; Hereford, 18 August 1858; Leominster, 18 August 1858; Hereford, 18 August 1858.
2
B59.02.01.
3
Verbenaceae deleted before Caesalpineae.
4
See G. Bentham to M, 23 August 1858.
5
Endlicher (1836-41). It does not ... Genera is a footnote with its intended position indicated by *.
6
Boultibroke Presteign probably in W. Hooker's hand (see G. Bentham to M, 23 August 1858) replacesF.L.S. &c &c | [Thet]field | Hereford | London deleted.Bentham was on a tour of the West of England, and the letter was forwarded by William Hooker (RBG Kew, Archives, George Bentham, Diaries).

Please cite as “FVM-58-06-15,” 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 20 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/58-06-15