To William Hooker   24 March 1861

Melbourne botanic & zoologic Garden

24. March. 1861.

My dear Sir William.

I have recently returned from an other short journey into the Australian Alps, having found my way to the watershed of the rivers Mitchell & Macallister at the sources of these rivers. Altho' I did not anticipate manyfold botanic novelties to result from the journey and chiefly went with a desire to have the distribution of species and (what is yet very insufficiently studied) their geological relations, yet I managed to find some new plants, an Oxylobium for instance, a Hakea, a Mitrasacme, an Acacia, a Cassinia at least new to Victoria. I hoped to reach on this journey from the side opposite to which I ascended Mount Baw Baw in December the localities in which I discovered the vacciniaceous Wittsteinia,¹ in order to ascertain the nature of its fruit, but my horses lost their shoes, the course which I possibly could follow was excessively rocky and finally when my term of leave had nearly expired, wet set in burying every thing in clouds & mist and so after two days & two nights incessantly being wet, I was obliged to retrace my steps and descend from the scrubby regions, in which we² were exposed to so much misery, and over which I could command no guiding view. I had however the gratification of mapping for the first time (altho' roughly) a considerable extent of alpine country untraversed before and to assign to 7 high alpine mountains (ranging from 5-7000' in hight) their names & fixing their position. I send you at last the XV Fragment fully completed;³ it was not ready within a few hours, when the last steamer left. I have for the XVI a great deal of very interesting new material ready, and as I am not likely to be much from home for some time to come, I can hope to finish soon the second volume of the Fragm. and also the first of the flora of Victoria.⁴ I intend to work Mr Oldfields remaining novelties up very soon, of most of which the preliminary investigation is completed. I have all Leichhardts collections here now and was meditating to draw up a little volume of habitats and notes whilst going through the whole of my material for preparing a general introduction to my flora of Victoria.

A Verticordia,probably new, has ony⁵ recently been found by a friend of mine in Victoria ⁶, also a spinescent Lepidium.

I enclose a few grains of the seeds of Goodenia Macmillani, which I was able to pick up when on my homeway from the alps.

With sincerest regards to you & your celebrated son, I remain

your ever grateful

Ferd. Mueller

Acacia

Cassinia

Goodenia Macmillani

Hakea

Lepidium

Mitrasacme

Oxylobium

Verticordia

Wittsteinia