To George Bentham   26 November 1865

26/11/65

My dear Mr Bentham.

Your letter of 21. Sept. is lying before me. It is wonderful to see you proceed so rapidly with the elucidation of genera in general and of species as regards the Australian flora. I have shipped box No. 28 pr "Yorkshire" on the 13. Nov. It contains angiantheae, Ixodia, Ammobium & Aster ( Euryb. & Celmisia & Steetzia) = in all 18 fascicles. Freight paid. The first consignment of Compositae was sent pr "Kent" on the 30. Sept, consisting of 26 species. Now I am engaged in placing the 3 consignment of compositae in order, chiefly embracing gnaphaloid plants. Since I have carefully separated the species of Aster, about 50 and written new diagnoses of 34 you will find the elaboration of these plants easy. I hope to do the same service as regards gnaphaloideae, though my attention is incessently withdrawn from phytographic engagements or at least these are constantly subjected to long interruptions. The original plants of Steetz are useful for comparison.1 I am glad you determined the genera of the two Rubiaceous plants. Not having fruits I did not enter on the task with care, but thought it better to send them rather then2 to reserve the species til I had better material for defining them in my own work, which I could have done perhaps soon. I have now an other Indian genus to add, Casearia (C. Australiae)3 from Rockingham's Bay.

On calling at the Agent Generals Office you will find the draft of £100 at your disposal.4

In the 5 vol. of the fragmenta I will give a systematic index of that work, as far as genera are concerned.5

I look forward with great interest to the 2 part of the genera.6 Perhaps I may furnish a few notes in time for the supplemental parts of the volume. In the first portion of the work is omitted, that Nitraria is a South European genus; Ampelideae is a zoologic name and should give way to Viniferae. Hert[it]iera has 1-2 seeded Carpels. Endl found several ovules. Xanthophyllum has in our species foliaceous green cotyledons, separable from the amygdaloid thick albumen.7

Will you be so friendly to ask Dr Hooker, whether he would like to have for inspection the NZ plants of my herbarium. It contains a large number of fascicles, indeed almost all the species of the islands & occasionally in different forms & from localities not the same as those recorded by Dr Hooker. As I keep the New Zealand plants entirely by themselfes, I can send them at any time & Dr Hooker might find many occasions for additional notes, with which to supplement his handbook.8 I would like however the phanerogamic portion soon returned.

Dr Hooker will feel interested to learn, that Lyperanthus suaveolens is according to Dr Milligans collection a Tasmanian plant.

Could not a good botanical Artist be induced to depict carefully the stigmata of a series of Asters? We would learn then, how far to these stigmatic notes could be trusted for generic discrimination. I have lately united a lot of Euphrasiae as E. Brownii and also reduced a large number of terrestrial orchids.9 For these disquisitions arise occasions now & then when I have to examine plants under cultivation or sent to me for naming. What a misery & useless toil has not the want of true appreciation of specific characters brought into descriptive Botany! In introducing Compositae attention may be drawn to the large number of annual pygmies of this order in Australia. Vittadinia teaches a lesson on variability of species. You will be astonished when you see my series of these plants. The fruits of Erechtites seems in the same species very variable in size. Senecio brevilingueus occurs also at Wilson's Promontory. Without inspection of D.C.10 & Achill Richards plants some of the Seneciones of Australia cannot be determined.

D.C. quotes Lesson & Richard; still it seems from the voy. d'Astrolabe, that A Rich is sole authority of the new Compositae defined in the scientific volumes of the voyage.11

I remain,

with cordial regards

dear Mr Bentham,

your

Ferd Mueller

 

Ammobium

Ampelideae

Angiantheae

Aster

Casearia Australiae

Celmisia

Compositae

Erechtites

Euphrasia Brownii

Eurybia

Heritiera

Ixodia

Lyperanthus suaveolens

Nitraria

Senecio brevilingueus

Senecioneae

Steetzia

Viniferae

Vittadinia

Xanthophyllum

 
1
For details of M's acquisition of Steetz's herbarium see Short & Sinkora (1988).
2
than?
3
M does not appear to have published the species as Casearia australiae, but it is possibly the same species from Rockingham Bay, Qld, that was described as C. dallachiiin B66.02.01, p. 107.
4
Payment from the Government of Victoria for Bentham (1863-78), vol. 3.
5
See request in G. Bentham to M, 21 September 1865; B66.13.03, pp. 217-24.
6
Bentham & Hooker (1862-83). vol. 1, part 2 was published on 19 October 1865 (TL2).
7
See M to G. Bentham, 22 September 1865. The 'Addenda et Corrigenda' to volume 1 of Bentham & Hooker (1862-83), pp 953-1009, contains several references to M and his publications, including details of the Xanthophyllum cotyledons (p. 974), citing the description of Macintyria.
8
J. Hooker (1864).
9
Euphrasia browniiwas described in B65.I1.01, p. 88; a number of orchids were also discussed in the same issue.
10
A. P. de Candolle (1823-73), vols 5 (pp. 497-695) and 6 (pp. 1-447)?
11
Richard (1832-34).

Please cite as “FVM-65-11-26a,” 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 27 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/65-11-26a