Melbourne bot. Garden,
23. jan 63
Dear Sir William.
When returning from the Barkly Ranges & Mount Useful in the Australian Alps I had the happiness of finding your very kind letter of the 25. November1 & to learn that your health had so much improved, and nothing could have given me greater delight than these good news. May it, so I ardently wish, be retained by you uninterruptedly for a long time.
My dwelling having been unroofed for the purpose of extending it, I have no access at present to my library & no room & space to work at any collections. I shall therefore go again away for a few weeks & will collect algae on the coast & work up journal notes. But when I return the publications here shall be continued with renewed vigor. I have the pleasure of announcing, that a box with Leguminosae is despatched to you for Mr Benthams use pr "Suffolk" last week, according to enclosed bill of loading.2
In the alps I made some curious observations on the range of plants, but obtained but few addditional species.
With the kind regards for you & Dr Hooker,
I remain, my dear Sir William,
your grateful & attached
Ferd. Mueller
Our seedharvest is now nearly completed & probably by next mail I shall be able to send the desired seeds for your new magnificent conservatory.
I examined numerous seeds of Coccoloba platyclada, but never find a well developed embryo, altho sometimes a mealy albumen. But the question, whether this plant has any claim to be placed with Muehlenbeckia seems very immaterial, since the latter appears to me merely a subgenus of the former. In Eriogonum namely we have axil and sublateral embryos in different species, also hermaphrodit[a] as well as polygamous flowers. The same as regards flowers might be said of Polygonum itself, whilst even the dry-fruited Polyg. diclinum is strictly dioecious.3
Coccoloba platyclada
Muehlenbeckia
Leguminosae
Eriogonum
Polygonum
Polygonum diclinum
Please cite as “FVM-63-01-23,” 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 29 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/63-01-23