From George Bentham   19 May 1862

May 19 /62

My dear Sir,

Since last mail your second box (Pittosporeae Frankeniaceae and Droseraceae) has safely come to hand1

I have finished up to Cruciferae which I have now in hand — although my time has been much turned away to other matters — your collection of Victoria plants is most valuable and I hope you will receive all safe back and your other Australian specimens a most material help or addition to what is to be seen here — I carefully avoid mixing them with others so that you may find yours intact In a few instances I was sorry to find grubs in them on opening the parcels but the damage is not great.

I agree with you in most of your union of species although perhaps there are a few marked forms I may still be induced to keep up not to go too much against the opinions of others

In Mr Robertson's2 Victoria plants I find a Ranunculus from the sandy forests on the Glenelg3 which is not in yours. It is allied to R. Millani but has a grumous root almost like R. choerophyllos4

The Menispermaceous plant you thought was the E Indian Pachygone ovata has the foliage and fruit of that plant but a very different inflorescence and flower It is a curious plant belonging apparently to an African genus not yet published but printed off some months since in our Genera Plantarum which we have called Triclisia The minor sepals are stoutly valvate more so than ever in Tiliacora but differs widely in the seed from the latter genus.

The fruit specimen without leaves you thought was Eupomatia is evidently the fruit of your E. Bennettii readily known by the raised scars of the decurrent petioles the terminal inflorescence etc besides the floral characters you pointed out.

I have besides other things the Linnean Anniversary coming on this week and my address is not near finished5 so I have no time to write more but was anxious that you should learn the safe arrival of your second box.

I am coming next week to stay two months at Kew itself and shall have little to take me from the Flora.

Yours ever sincerely

George Bentham

 

Dr F. Mueller.

 

Cruciferae

Droseraceae

Eupomatia Bennettii

Frankeniaceae

Pachygone ovata

Pittosporeae

Ranunculus choerophyllos

Ranunculus Millani

Tiliacora

Triclisia

1
Despatched by Great Britain , 27 January 1862 (RB MSS M44, Notebook recording despatch of plants for Bentham for Flora australiensis , Library, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne).
2
John G. Robertson.
3
Kew specimen K000692765: Ranunculus robertsoni from 'East bank of Glenelg River | Nangela Vale’ .
4
i.e. chaerophyllos.
5
Bentham (1864a).

Please cite as “FVM-62-05-19,” 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/62-05-19