24/1/62.
My dear Sir William.
I have to thank you for an other friendly letter, you honored me with under date of 2. Nov.1 It is always delightful to hear of you and your direct communications are a real boon to me, altho' I truly wish you should allow me to write to you by every mail without exciting you to such exertions as to honor me with replies.
I admiring the ardour, with which you foster botanical research, again evinced by your calling forth this important series of Colonial floras.
Having written both to Mr Bentham & Dr Hooker,2 I have not much more of importance to relate. Perhaps some of the notes in the [P] sheets of my Flora3 sent by this mail may interest you.
I hope you will take possession of the collection of vegetable products enumerated in the proof-index here transmitted.4
pr "Young Australia" I forwarded the first 27 fascicles of Thalamiflorae, one consignment will probably follow by "Great-Britain" and two others afterwards.
I have to mention that the oil labelled Melaleuca uncinata in the consignment pr "Young Australia" is that of M. curvifolia; by the Great Britain that of M. uncinata will be sent.
It seems you have Wittsteinia vacciniacea growing? It would be a great triumph if so, as the plant would be hardy in Britain.5
Poa ramigera is as a grass very interesting on account of its Bamboo like ramifications.
Ever with the humblest attachment, dear Sir William,
Yours
Ferd. Mueller
The complete volume of the Flora will come by next mail I hope Professor Harvey is not suffering again. He overworks himself.
Melaleuca curvifolia
Melaleuca uncinata
Poa ramigera
Thalamiflorae
Wittsteinia vacciniacea
Letter not found.
See M to G. Bentham, 24 January 1862, and M to J. Hooker, 24 January 1862 (in this edition as 62-01-24c).
B62.03.03.
Probably the plant products included within the full Victorian exhibit lists on pp. 140–7 of International Exhibition, London 1862 (1862); see M to W. Hooker, 24 October 1861 and notes thereto.
The letter as bound ends here. The remaining part of this transcription is bound after two folios of letter number 143. There is an annotation on the guard paper holding the sheet transcribed as the end of this letter: 'Belongs with letter 142'.
MS black-edged; M's sister Bertha died on 7 September 1861.
Please cite as “FVM-62-01-24d,” 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