From George Bentham¹    24 June 1863

25, WILTON PLACE, S.W.

London

June 24 /63

My dear Sir

I had just penned a short note to your locum tenens in your supposed absence from Melbourne² but luckily not posted it when I received last night yours of the 16th April³ — I am disappointed at the having to defer the pleasure of making your personal acquaintance but on the other hand I must admit you will be usefully employed in continuing your great work on the Victorian Flora. — I have also to express many thanks for your Photograph which does credit to Victorian Art.

I sent you by the May mail the remainder of the first vol. of my Flora Australiensis and I have desired Messrs Reeve & Co to remit to your care for the Melbourne Government the 30 copies which I consider your Government entitled to in respect of their subscription.

I am now hard at work at Leguminosae in which our West Australian collections are particularly rich[.]⁴ I have nearly finished the Podalyrieae in which tribe although I have to reduce a considerable number of my own species as well as many of Meisner's and Turczaninows yet I shall still have above 300 besides some additions which your collections will supply The genera I have done are Jansonia Kipp (Cryptosema Meisn), Brachysema (including Leptosema Kaleniczenkia and Burgesia), Oxylobium (including Callistachys and Podolobium), Gastrolobium, Chorizema (including Orthotropis) Mirbelia (including Dichosema), Isotropis, Gompholobium, Burtonia (including the 2-ovuled pinnate Gompholobia) Jacksonia (including Piptomeris), Leptocytisus, Daviesia, Viminaria, Sphaerolobium (including Roea) and I have just finished the Pultenaeas proper — how far Phyllota Spadostyles Euchilus Dillwynia Sclerothamnus etc. do or not go into Pultenaea I have not ascertained yet. I hope to get through the greater number of them during the next fortnight After that I leave town for a couple of months holiday, to resume work in September. I fully hope to begin printing the 2d vol. in January or February at the latest and therefore beg you to let me have your materials at the earliest convenience. I reckon upon nearly 1000 Leguminosae and the families next in order will be pretty nearly as follows Rosaceae Saxifrageae (Cunoniaceae &c) Crasssulaceae Droseraceae Hamamelideae Rhizophoreae Halorageae Onagrarieae Lythrarieae Combretaceae & Melastomaceae all of which I hope to get into the 2d vol. so as to begin the third next year with Myrtaceae — As I shall have no preface or introduction to the 2d vol. I shall be able to get 1300 or 1400 species into it.

You ask about the proportion of your plants to the Australian plants at Kew.⁵ It is difficult to tell You will see by the Flora that we are very rich in Western plants from Drummond and others — much richer than yourself while you are much richer in Victorian & S. Australian — Our collections again are very complete in Tasmanian and N. S Wales plants whilst you have more than us in the Clarence riv. etc plants From Queensland we have a great deal, as well as from the extreme north which I include in it. Your Victoria river etc collection is larger than any other whilst in the N. W. Cunningham's is very extensive — and of the desert interior what we have is chiefly through you. A propos of Cunninghams it is 200 covers not boxes that they are done up in — You will best judge of the relative extent of all these collections by the Flora — I consider Brown's⁶ as the most remarkable collection of the whole

I should have sent you by this mail via Southampton a copy of my anniversary address as P.LS.⁷ but that I thought you on your way to Europe — I shall now send it by next mail — Many thanks for the 3d vol of your Fragmenta which has just been delivered to me. If there is no delay in receiving your plants I fully hope as long as I retain health and strength to publish a volume each year in May or June — beginning to print in January

Yours very sincerely

George Bentham

Dr F. Mueller

I enclose a duplicate of the bill of lading sent last month

Brachysema

Burgesia

Burtonia

Callistachys

Chorizema

Combretaceae

Crasssulaceae

Cryptosema

Cunoniaceae

Daviesia

Dichosema

Dillwynia

Droseraceae

Euchilus

Gastrolobium

Gompholobium

Halorageae

Hamamelideae

Isotropis

Jacksonia

Jansonia

Kaleniczenkia

Leguminosae

Leptocytisus

Leptosema

Lythrarieae

Melastomaceae

Mirbelia

Myrtaceae

Onagrarieae

Orthotropis

Oxylobium

Phyllota

Piptomeris

Podalyrieae

Podolobium

Pultenaea

Rhizophoreae

Roea

Rosaceae

Saxifrageae

Sclerothamnus

Spadostyles

Sphaerolobium

Viminaria