From George Bentham   24 December 1863

25 Wilton Place, S.W

Decr 24/63

My dear Sir

I have again made little progress and shall not get on very quick till I have done the Leguminosae for Genera Plantarum.¹ I have settled the Galegeae — you will perhaps be surprised that I must unite Diplolobium with Swainsona — as in Astragalus the longitudinal division of the pod is not even a sectional character, there are several Astragali among the Tragacanthi, the Annui and some others besides Phaca² where there is no trace of it and others where it is only slightly intruded and Phaca is now by common consent incorporated with Astragalus. Swainsona has the variable pod of Astragalus with the flowers nearly of Lessertia. I have a species from Drummond with the flower of S. procumbens only smaller and the pod as much divided as in Diplolobium — and the young pod of S. occidentalis is partially divided.

I find I was wrong about Oxycladium — on soaking the remains which I thought showed a staminal sheath I found it was the remains of something else — I can find no trace of stamens so it may very possibly be an anomalous Mirbelia as you suggest³ — but it is very seldom that the pod alone will fix the genus of a Leguminous plant and Oxycladium must remain doubtful till the flowers are seen. I have two or three other anomalous Leguminosae from Cunningham in very good fruit and foliage but which I can make nothing of for want of flowers.

Since writing the above the mail has brought a small parcel of plants from De Grey river etc from Ridley's expedition⁴ in which are capital specimens of Swainsona (Diplolobium) Walcottii in flower and fruit fully confirming the above identification

The mail has also brought yours of the 15th Oct. I have written to enquire about the 30 copies of the 1st vol. for your Government Reeve writes to me in answer that he hears from Baillière that the vessel which took them only sailed on the 1st Augt so that I trust you have them long ere this.

The parcels per Norfolk are all received safe and the Monarch is just arrived so that I shall have the two last boxes — as I shall then have all the supplementary Leguminosae I shall finish off and despatch one or two boxes of Papilionaceae — I have been waiting to go over what I have done once till all the addenda should have come in asit takes an immense time going over again with specimens in double sheets — our plants being all glued down on single sheets of rather stiff paper are sorted and referred to backwards and forwards in a quarter of the time

I have at last got through those tribes of Leguminosae which took up so much time in examining (for Genera Plantarum) the European Asiatic & N. American genera which I had never looked much into. I have now nearly finished Hedysareae and shall get on rapidly with Phaseoleae and Dalbergieae which I have almost monographised in previous work.

The two Australian Aeschynomenes I have seen are the Indian Ae. (Euaeschynomene) indica & the S. American and S. African Ae. (Ochopodium) falcata DC. the same as Ae. micrantha DC.

All the Australian Zornias I have seen are varieties of the ubiquitous Z. diphylla Pers.

I do not think that poisoned paper would — if it could be safely managed — quite answer the purpose — and we do not find it take so much trouble to poison the specimens which is regularly done as they come back from the gluer. Before the herbarium was poisoned — now many years ago — there was much damage done but now we never find living insects in the laid-in herbarium.

Dr Hooker is now printing his 'Handbook of the N. Zealand Flora'⁵ in the type & style of Fl. Hong Kong & Fl. Austral. — as soon as that is nearly done I shall begin my 2d vol. for the printer can easily go on with the two at once. I suppose it will be March before I put the volume into his hands and July by the time it is published. I have no doubt you will kindly send me the Myrtaceae in time most if not all of which will come into the 2d vol — the 3d vol for the following year ought to include Umbelliferae Rubiaceae & Compositae and intervening small Orders.

Ever yours sincerely

George Bentham

Dr F Mueller

Aeschynomene (Ochopodium) falcata

Aeschynomene (Euaeschynomene) indica

Aeschynomene micrantha

Astragalus

Compositae

Dalbergieae

Diplolobium Walcottii

Galegeae

Hedysareae

Leguminosae

Lessertia

Mirbelia

Myrtaceae

Oxycladium

Papilionaceae

Phaca

Phaseoleae

Rubiaceae

Swainsona occidentalis

Swainsona procumbens

Swainsona Walcottii

Tragacantha

Umbelliferae

Zornia diphylla