To George Francis   11 July 1858

Melbourne bot. Garden,

11. July 1858.

My dear Mr Francis.

I have to announce with many thanks the arrival of your valuable contribution of seeds & bulbs, and shall not fail to scrape someting together in return for your garden at an early opportunity. If ever any of your colonist who take an interest in your establishment should be on a visit to Melbourne, please direct them to me, and there will be at all seasons something worthy of sending to you. I might send you now for instance a fine collection of cuttings, if I knew they were acceptable.

Better than a week ago I forwarded some seeds & pamphlets to you pr. Burra Burra, which I hope arrived safely. My groom brought them on board but did not receive a receipt.

Is there no news of Babbage expedition? of late. I proposed to Mr Dutton some time ago, that it would be good to get his collections for examination as the[y]¹ came in, rather than to let them accumulate to a great bulk, which would require then much longer then to get through.

You speak of your report. I regret not having seen it. Mine accompanied by an index of our plants will be issued next month.

I cannot express, how highly gratifying your collection of bulbs is to us, forming such an important addition to my catalogue.

I have not Calostemma luteum, but C. carneum both with yellow & pink flowers & will not fail to send it.

As regards your question about my work, I can say, that I am compiling now that set of msc relative to Thalamiflorae, but I have several small journeys yet to perform this season, before I can issue it. Actinostrobus & Silphiosperma are both described in Lehmann plantae Preissianae.² I have no Zichya & Leschenaultia in the garden as yet

My groom missed Mr Gilbert, the old Govt Storekeepers nephew; hence the delay of sending the pamphlets by the then following steamer

In great haste but also in great sincerity your humble

Ferd. Mueller

I expect some seeds from Moreton Bay & will share them with you.

Actinostrobus

Calostemma carneum

Calostemma luteum

Leschenaultia

Silphiosperma

Thalamiflorae

Zichya