From George Bentham   18 May 1866

25, WILTON PLACE, S.W.

18 May 1866

My dear Sir

I have to acknowledge yours of the 5th Feby¹ received a few days after I last wrote. I am at present overwhelmed with work. Besides the Flora Australiensis of which I am printing two sheets a week I have been suddenly called on for a new edition of my British Handbook² and have all the disturbance of my Anniversary Address³ and the bustle of the London season — so that I only write a few words.

You ask me for a list of Eucalytpi as I have adopted them. The MS has been all at the printers but I am enabled to send you by this post nearly the whole of the genus as printed off — the few remaining species you will see from the Analytical Key and from your specimens which I trust you have safely received

I have finished Asteroideae and am just now in Heliantheae. I trust the remaining Compositae are on their way

Your supplemental Rubiaceae will I fear come too late — for the printer goes on very regularly

As you object to it it is as you say a pity I adopted Australiensis but it is too late to alter it and the termination is very familiar to us Londinensis Edinensis Sinensis Albigensis⁴ Veronensis Brasiliensis Parisiensis etc.

I send by this post 9 sheets of the Flora⁵ — I have not had another box packed because I do not like to return Compositae till I have done more as I so often find a few specimens that have by mistake slipped into wrong genera

After much consideration I think it more prudent to keep up Olearia (to include Eurybia) Celmisia and Vittadinia (including Eurybiopsis) as A. Gray has done. I think him a great authority on Compositae and if we unite these with Aster we cannot keep Erigeron out and Erigeron passes very gradually into Conyza

Minuria makes I think a very good genus including Therogeron Elachothamnus and Kippistia

Brachycome includes Brachystephium Paquerina Steiroglossa and Silphiosperma

Streptoglossa Steetz is Pterigeron DC which A. Gray had some time since indicated as a very distinct genus (it includes Oliganthemum). I also keep up your Thespidium — these two are both very near Dicoma and connect Mutisiaceae with Asteroideae. I think also Pluchea and Blumea can be kept distinct. If we do not take up with rather shady characters in Asteroideae we must run nearly the whole tribe into one genus which I think would not facilitate the study of it. But of course everyone has his own ideas on this head. I observe you had Conyza aegyptiaca and C. veronicaefolia as species of Pluchea (Blumea) but I think the anthers obtuse at the base in Conyza and tailed in Blumea are a constant and ready character to separate these and connected with habit — although the same character is not good in Olearia

Yours very sincerely

George Bentham

Dr F. Mueller

Aster

Asteroideae

Blumea

Brachycome

Brachystephium

Celmisia

Compositae

Conyza aegyptiaca

Conyza veronicaefolia

Dicoma

Elachothamnus

Erigeron

Eucalytpus

Eurybia

Eurybiopsis

Heliantheae

Kippistia

Minuria

Mutisiaceae

Olearia

Oliganthemum

Paquerina

Pluchea

Pterigeron

Rubiaceae

Silphiosperma

Steiroglossa

Streptoglassa

Therogeron

Thespidium

Vittadinia