Melbourne bot. Garden,
Easterday1
1869.
I was asked by this months mail, dear Prof Balfour, to send seeds of Wittsteinia to my excellent friend, Prof Dr. Wittstein in Munich. I have never succeeded in raising this plant from seeds, and what is in cultivation I brought from the Alps of Australia in a living state.
In the Calico roofed case,of which Dr. Madden took so kindly charge and to which Dr McNab referred in such friendly terms, one plant of Wittsteinia reached Edinburgh at that time safely.2 It is likely, that the plant has done well in your conservatory, and since it is, like all other Vaccini[c]ae3 easily multiplied from cuttings, I fancy you might have a plant to spare, which some tourist some day might take to the Munich garden; where this particular species would have a more than usual interest. Will you oblige me, if you can?
Physostigma venenosum I have now raised from seed. The only seed I had was burried in earth for four years & exposed to various temperatures, until at last it suddenly germinated in a cold frame,
With much sincere regards
Ferd.von Mueller
Physostigma venenosum
Vaccinicae
Wittsteinia
Please cite as “FVM-69-03-28b,” 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 17 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/69-03-28b