From George Bentham   25 December 1864

25, WILTON PLACE, S.W.

London

Decr 25 1864

My dear Sir

I received yesterday yours of the 25th Oct.¹ with notes on Acacias which I take note of in my interleaved copy. As to Supplements I see so much the very great inconvenience of supplements and addenda to supplements repeated before a work is completed that I have given up any idea of any such till I come to the last volume if I live to complete the work.

I regretted that I overlooked Sonder's paper on your Halorageaein the Linnaea² — but on turning to it I see it is of no consequence as the only new species he describes I had taken up under his name which I had in his herbarium.³ unfortunately his herbarium contained no indication of where it was published. I endeavour to collect all notices of Australian plants scattered through the periodicals published in so many different places but occasionally some one escapes me but I do not think it occurs frequently.

I have now been working hard at Chamaelaucieae although with occasional interruptions from family matters. The first genus Bartlingia is nothing but Pultenaea obovata in a very young state before the petals & sepals have grown out into their irregular shapes. Then it is evident that Darwinia Genettyllis Hedaroma and Polyzone were all founded on the same generic type though on different species De Candolle did not recognise Rudges genus because the latter had overlooked the calyx segments but DC again overlooked the staminadia which prevented Lindley and Endlicher from recognising his genus The large bracteole species were added afterwards. It follows that the whole must be united under the older name of Darwinia. Your Schuermannia makes an excellent section characterised by the calyx and comprises Hedaroma pinefolium Lindley Genetyllis sanguinea Meissn G. micropetala and Schuermanni F. Muell. and Chamaelaucium verticordinum F. Muell. — Homoranthus (1 sp.) only differs in the calyx segments where there is no particular advantage in suppressing it[.]⁴ I find the distinction in the anthers and ovary between Actinodium Darwinia and Homoranthus on the one hand and Chamaelaucium on the other quite constant The splendid genus Verticordia can only be characterised by the calyx and forms two excellent sections, one with the anthers of Darwinia the other with those of Chamaelaucium. Calythrix and Lhotzkya are widely different from either in calyx petals stamens ovary and seeds As to Thryptomene I have not finished it yet Of this as of other Chamaelaucium the numbers of forms and specimens sent by Drummond especially are very great and I have to dissect with care every one — that is one of every separate gathering for the internal differences are often great with close external resemblance. I quite agree that Paryphanthe goes into Thryptomene as a section. But I think that some of the Baeckeoid ones such as T. plicata and T. Maisonneuvii invalidate the generic character too much to be retained in it. Baillons genus Eremopyxis (well described though he was mistaken in thinking that his plant was Baeckea camphorata Br.) must perhaps be retained for those species which have the flowers of Baeckea with a 1-celled ovary. But untill I shall have carefully analysed every one of the large pile of Baeckeoid specimens I have before me and grouped them according to the various combinations of calyx petals stamens and ovary I find it impossible to make up my mind as to where to place such very anomalous Thryptomenes as T. elobata T. polyandra etc.

Neither Schauer's nor Meissner's grouping of Verticordia appear to me to be good and there has been a confusion between the species in which the lateral cilia of the primary calyx segments are reflexed on the tube and those which have really reflexed accessory segments alternating with and outside the primary ones. The reflexed green ones appear to me to be rather appendages of the tube than real segments — They occur only in the 2d section (with Chamaelaucious anthers) and not in all of those.

I expect these Myrtaceae to occupy me many months — especially as I shall have some work at the same time with the proofs of the 2d part of Genera Plantarum⁵ which we intend putting into the printer's hands as soon as the Xmas holidays are over

I trust you will have safely received the supplemental Thalamiflorae before this reaches you

Ever yours sincerely

George Bentham

Dr F. Mueller

Acacia

Actinodium

Baeckea camphorata

Calythrix

Chamaelaucieae

Chamaelaucium

Chamaelaucium verticordinum

Darwinia

Eremopyxis

Genettyllis

Genetyllis micropetala

Genetyllis sanguinea

Genetyllis Schuermanni

Halorageae

Hedaroma

Hedaroma pinefolium

Homoranthus virgatus

Lhotzkya

Myrtaceae

Polyzone

Pultenaea obovata

Schuermannia

Thryptomene elobata

Thryptomene Maisonneuvii

Thryptomene plicata

Thryptomene polyandra

Verticordia