Melbourne, Christmasday, 1864.
I have, dear Dr Hooker, just hurriedly glanced over your Handbook on New Zealand plants1. Ranunculus Traversii is decidely only a variety of R. Haastii. The name R. hirtus B & S. is older than that of R. plebejus2 If we adopt for the fruits of Compositae, which are truely connate with the calyx (of which the pappus is the limb) the expression achen[ium], we cannot possibly call the fruits of Ranunculaceae with the same name. To me the most correct name of them appears caryopsides.
Gypsophila tubulosa is not confined to South Australia, a name meaning a certain colonial territory.
I still maintain that no specific differences exist between H. gramineum & H. Japonicum.3
Can really the two Hoherias be placed in different genera? To me they appear both Sidae.
Geranium microphyllum differs in no way from G. dissectum permanently.
Oxalis Magellanica occurs also on the Alps of Australia.
Pomaderris phylicifolia is also a Victorian plant. The species of Carmichaelia are too numerous in your work.
Donatia Novae Zeelandiae occurs in the Tasmanian alps.
Ackama has no generic claims, the inflorescence of Quintinia being as well paniculate as racemose. Tetragonia trigyna is the same as T. implexicoma.
Crantzia lineata occurs also in N. S. Wales & in South Australia.
Eryngium vesiculosum we have from varied parts of extratropical Australia.
Panax cr[a]ssifolius4 is a true Hedera as Asa Gray has correctly pointed out, unless we abandon that genus. The species of Coprosma I regard as to be largely re[duc]ted
The genus Olearia has certainly priority over Eurybia, but as the very few Olearias were already reduced to Eurybia we receive now many additional synonyms. I am inclined to reduce the whole genus to Aster.
Vittadinia embraces only one species, the N.Z. one not differing from that of N. H. The plant occurs also in New Caledonia. It appears to me merely a subgenus of Aster.
Samolus repens is several years older than S. litoralis.5
The Gentianae are all forms of one species.
Teucridium sphaerocarpum is = Spartothamnus, a genus apparently different from Teucridium in a superior radicle and hence myoporineous & not verbenaceous.6
Pisonia Brunonis7 is according to Seeman = P. inermis.
The number of Unciniae, of Carex, of Hymenophylla8 & several other genera are certainly overrated.
Carex stellulata occurs in the alps of Australia.
Regardfully
yrs
Ferd. Mueller.
Ackama
Aster
Carex
Carex stellulata
Carmichaelia
Compositae
Coprosma
Crantzia lineata
Donatia Novae Zeelandiae
Eryngium vesiculosum
Eurybia
Gentianae
Geranium dissectum
Geranium microphyllum
Gypsophila tubulosa
Hedera
Hoheria
Hymenophylla
Hypericium gramineum
Hypericium japonicum
Olearia
Oxalis Magellanica
Panax crassifolius
Pisonia Brunonis
Pisonia inermis
Pomaderris phylicifolia
Quintinia
Ranunculaceae
Ranunculus Haastii
Ranunculus hirtus
Ranunculus plebejus
Ranunculus Traversii
Samolus litoralis
Samolus repens
Sida
Spartothamnus
Tetragonia implexicoma
Tetragonia trigyna
Teucridium
Teucridium sphaerocarpum
Unciniae
Vittadinia
Please cite as “FVM-64-12-25b,” 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 30 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/64-12-25b