To [George Bentham] 1    June 1868

[68.06.00]2

 

Could what I have sent as Taxotrophis rectinervis possibly be a Celtis?3 I have no note whether it is lactescent or not. If a new Celtis the specific name might still be retained

Some years ago the excellent Mr Bennett4 pointed out to me when I enquired, that Hunters River given as a locality for some of A Cunninghams N.W. Austr plants, was intended for Hunters Inlet on the N.W. coast.5

The young fruit of Pittosporum melanospermum is completely bilocular.6

I have not been able to identify Mr Hills supposed new genus of Cycadeae, of which [an] account appeared in the Gardeners Chronicle7

 

Celtis

Cycadeae

Pittosporum melanospermum

Taxotrophis rectinervis

1
The addressee is uncertain, but is most likely to have been Bentham as such comments were routinely addressed to him during the preparation of Flora Australiensis. There is a pencil annotation 'vol. vi', presumably added by an archivist when the manuscripits were sorted for binding; Taxotrophis rectinervis is treated in Bentham (1863-78), vol. 6.
2
June 1868 is the earliest date consistent with M having had second thoughts about Taxotrophis rectinervis (B68.06.03, p. 192), specimens of which were probably included in the main collection of Urticeae sent to Bentham in May 1868 (RB MSS M44, Notebook recording despatch of plants for Bentham for Flora australiensis, Library, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne). M published a species of Pittosporum at the same time as Taxotrophis (p. 186) and apparently looked at the treatment in Flora Australiensis (Bentham [1863-78], vol. 1, p. 111); he may also have looked at the Pittosporum entry in Bentham & Hooker (1862-83), vol. 1, part 3, p. 131, published in September 1867.
3
Bentham (1863-78), vol. 6, p. 160 treated Taxotrophis rectinervis as a synonym of Aphananthe phillippinensis.
4
George Bennett.
5
See Bentham (1863-78), vol. 1, p. 111. No Hunter’s (or Hunter) Inlet is shown on the N.W. coast in the modern series of 1 : 250,000 maps of Australia, but there is a Hunter Inlet on the Cape York Peninsula, where Cunningham may have collected.
6
See Bentham (1863-78),vol. 1, p. 111, and the treatment of Pittosporum in Bentham & Hooker (1862–83), vol. 1, part 3, p. 131.
7

Catakidozamia hopei , Hill (1865). The description was reported in the Brisbane Courier , 21 March 1866, p. 4, col. c.

The text ends at the bottom of the page, without valediction.

Please cite as “FVM-68-06-00a,” 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 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/68-06-00a