To George Bentham   24 April 1868

24/4/68.

 

A variety of circumstances have combined, dear Mr Bentham, to make great inroads on my leisure lately, more particularly the winding off of the Leichhardt Search Contract, which gave endless trouble through the death (two month ago) of the Gentleman, who furnished men, horses and supplies.1 Indeed the very complicated, onerous and responsible affair has not yet been fully settled.Under the circumstances Dr Hooker will kindly excuse when I do not write to him, and you will be content, I trust, with this hurried epistle. The time for the enormous distribution of plants to the churchyards, cemeteries, school-reserves &c has also broke in again, (nearly 100,000 plants besides seeds & cuttings being supplied in May & June) and so I fear, not much will be done until July by me for working on plants. In all probability I shall however send off the Euphorbiaceae, Laurineae and Urticeae in a few weeks so that you may have them in time for commencing the 5th volume2 whenever you please.

It was most kind of you to postpone the issue of the vol. IV for my sake until my W.A. gatherings arrived.3 I do not think you will be sorry, as you will obtain additional notes on color, localities, &c, and I am glad to see my material utilized, as the voyage and journey was so very expensive. I am seizing on any occasion when, for determining any Garden-plants or for information required by my correspondents, I have to look at species closely, to bring up arrears since former volumes were published, as in the event of my death this will much facilitate to issue the supplement finally, for which, I should suppose, the transmission of a specimen of any new species would be only needful. The freight for the cases, going & coming has already cost to my department (and sometimes to myself) nearly £100 and it would not be justifiable, as my votes here for transit expenses are quite unsufficient, to incur more expenses as can be helped, especially as my income is limited as well as my private property while the personal expenses seem annually increasing. Of course the main-collection will be sent for the main-work, as before. Your identification of RBr.'s4 species will be a great finishing stroke for Australian phytography for all times. I have often wondered why RBr. did not furnish more explicit diagnoses and why he attached specific value to characters (such as indument, shape of leaves &c) known to be very inconstant even in Britain.

I wished much the further issue could be made so, that each volume extended over two years work. Your own health must suffer inevitably by the wonderful close application you evince at your venerable age, & if I am not careful, being of phthisic tendency, I shall not live much longer, & were it not for your desire to push on so rapidly and my desire to help as much as I can, I should certainly try to get away from the onerous departmental duties for a time and take the field again. But as it is I cannot do it, may I succumb under it or not.

The Goodeniae, Campanulaceae & Stylideae have safely come back5 and in fair preservation (rather a little moist, i.e. adhering to the paper). I was glad to see that generally you approved of my determinations. The examination of the ovaries in all these cases as well as in Leucopogon &c must have given you great trouble.

Wondering at all your exertions & wishing you health & happiness I remain your very regardful

Ferd von Mueller

 

The boxes, about the arrival of which, I trust, your next letter will bring information are

1 pr Superb shipped

Decr 67

1 True Britain6 -

jan 68

1 Dover Castle -

febr 68

1 Norfolk -

febr 68

2 Great Britain -

March 68

I shall revise the Salsoleae soon and also the Proteaceae. I have commenced an enquiry into the relation of Petrophila to Isopogon.7 I do not see as yet the clearness of the distinctive characters of these 2 genera.

Mr Gunn, in sending me very recently on my request specimens in flower & fruit of Liparophyllum writes in somewhat dismal terms, that his name is entirely omitted in the quotations of localities solely visited by him.8 Excuse that I candidly make the remark.

Would it not be well to send Dr Bureauthe Fici, he being just engaged elaborating them.9

 

Campanulaceae

Euphorbiaceae

Ficus

Goodeniae

Isopogon

Laurineae

Leucopogon

Liparophyllum

Proteaceae

Petrophila

Salsoleae

Stylideae

Urticeae

 
1
Donald Campbell died at his property, Glengower Station, Vic, on 26 January 1868 ( Argus , 28 January 1868, p. 4; brief obituary, p. 5). He was the uncle of the leader of the Ladies’ Leichhardt Search Expedition, Duncan McIntyre, and had much to do with the selection of expedition members and the equipping of it; see Lewis (2013), p. 96, and M to W. Landsborough, 14 June 1865.
2
Of Bentham (1863-78). A box with these plants was sent on 8 May 1868 (RB MSS, M 44 , M notebook recording despatch of plants for Bentham for Flora australiensis , Library, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne).
3
See M to G. Bentham, 21 December 1867, and G. Bentham to M, 23 February 1868.
4
Robert Brown’s.
5
See G. Bentham to M, 18 January 1868.
6
i.e., True Briton .
7
See B68.12.02, pp 236-46, with cardinal characters summarised on p. 246.
8
Letter not found, but see M to R. Gunn, 8 April 1868.Bentham typically cited J. Hooker or R. Brown, who had published descriptions, for Tasmanian localities. For example, there are 43 citations to collectors for Tasmanian species of Myrtaceae listed in Bentham (1863-78), vol. 3. Hooker received 25 mentions, Brown 12, Gunn 5 and others 5. When a species was widespread in Tasmania, the citation is typically similar to that for Leptospermum scoparium: 'Very abundant throughout the colony, R. Brown, J. D. Hooker,etc.' (p. 105). For Proteaceae, published in Bentham (1863-78), vol. 5, the equivalent numbers are Hooker 11, Brown 12, Gunn 9, and others 15: this is a significant reduction in the dominance of Hooker and Brown as the cited collectors.
9
Bureau (1869).

Please cite as “FVM-68-04-24,” 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 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/68-04-24