To John Balfour   23 March 1867

Stategarden 23/3/67.

 

I have to thank you, dear Prof Balfour for your regular communications, always so welcome.

I do not know, whether you are aware, that I have a large swamp or Lake in my garden. It occurs to me it would be delightful to transfer Scottish water plants to it. Butomus umbellatus, Sagittaria sagittifolia, Stratiotes aloides, Hottonia palustris, Lysimachia vulgaris, [Lysimachia]1 thyrsiflora, Lychnis flos-cuculi &c would be so welcome. We have Lythrum salicaria, Nymphaea alba, Alisma Plantago & Acorus calamus, but nothing else of British Swamp or Lake plants. Supposed now, when your excursions commence again,2 could your intelligent youthful followers not pick some seedvessels of these things for me? Four ounces of seeds sent as samples would come for [...]3 by post. Of course the pretty moor & wood plants, Majanthemum bifolium, Pinguicula, Pyrola, Circaea, Paris, &c might be also tried in our forest of Fagus Cunninghamii. I would gladly reciprocate to the donors in dry plants for their herbaria, and it might be a triumph to them to have so many pretty things naturalized in Australian waters.

Victoria regia is gorgeously in flower in my Conservatory.4 Now, as I am getting an ample local supply of fresh seeds I hope to naturalize this grand plant in the lakes of North Australia where it will be of more use than the small Nymphaea Lotus & N. stellata for its amylaceous seeds as a final stapel of food. Trapa natans I have also growing.

yr attached

Ferd Mueller

 

A friend of mine, Andr. McCrae Esq, has taken a basket made of Xerotes longifolia to your museum for me.5

Seeds of Glaux maritima I should prize much.6

 
 

Acorus calamus

Alisma Plantago

Butomus umbellatus

Circaea

Fagus Cunninghamii

Glaux maritima

Hottonia palustris

Lychnis flos-cuculi

Lysimachia thyrsiflora

Lysimachia vulgaris

Lythrum salicaria

Majanthemum bifolium

Nymphaea alba

Nymphaea Lotus

Nymphaea stellata

Paris

Pinguicula

Pyrola

Sagittaria sagittifolia

Stratiotes aloides

Trapa natans

Victoria regia

Xerotes longifolia

 
1
In the MS the name of the second Lysimachia species is written below the first, and the generic name indicated by a " mark.
2
For the role of Balfour's long excursions, see Allen (2000), p. 354, and Balfour (1908).
3
Text obscured by binding.
4
See Maroske (1992).
5
Paragraph written in left margin of p. 1 of letter. M also sent a similar basket to Kew; see M to G. Bentham 21 April 1867 (in this edition as 64-07-21b).
6
Paragraph written in left margin of p. 3 of letter.

Please cite as “FVM-67-03-23,” 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 24 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/67-03-23