To Joseph Hooker1    14 August 1869

14/8/69

 

Would you oblige me, dear Dr Hooker, to see among my normal set of Ficus Species, whether Dr Beckler describes the one from the Hastings River as ever producing many adventitious roots connected into stout columns. Among the plants from Lord Howe’s Island is a magnificent species of Ficus which rivals Ficus Indica & F. prolixa in the development of masses of columns and the interjacent arches of domes. Mr Moore & Mr Carron never saw many columnar roots or stems on the species of the Hastings; still Lord Howe’s Island has a wonderfully mild & humid clime and a rich basalt soil, both of which may induce a far more copious growth of columns than the clime & soil of the Hastings.

I have only one leaf and one fruit of this Ficus. So I cannot send it. Pray examine Dr Becklers labels or return them to me, if you cannot make out his somewhat curious writing. I should also be glad for a leaf and fruit back (in a letter) from F. Beckleri & F. Muelleri

There are also 4 palms on the island, which seem all to belong like the 8 New Caledonians to Kentia, with which Miquel & Blume unite the New Zealand Areca sapida. Possibly Kentia is only a section of Areca. I shall investigate the matter as far as my material admits.2 In December Mr Moore and myself are to have an other lot of plants from Lord Howe's Island, when we will be able to supply Kew well.

Always your

Ferd von Mueller.3

 

Would you believe that in the 30 years of Victorian colonisation never yet a single plant of any Aconit4 was raised or improved! Indeed I believe the plants of this genus are after 80 years not in Australia. I have sown them dozens of times & could never raise them! Would it not be well to trust into some case a strong root, also then Eriophorum, Veratrum Album, V. viride, Caltha palustris, Butomus [umbellatus], Sagittaria sagittifolia, Podophyllum peltatum. — None of these are in Australia. Pray, dear Dr Hooker, deem me not immodest, but I want them much for my medicinal division in the garden & also for the garden lake. I will send you several Todeas, which you can utilise for interchanges.

 

Aconitum

Areca sapida

Butomus umbellatus

Caltha palustris

Eriophorum

Ficus Beckleri

Ficus Indica

Ficus Muelleri

Ficus prolixa

Kentia

Podophyllum peltatum

Sagittaria sagittifolia

Todea

Veratrum Album

Veratrum viride

1
MS annotation: 'Sent Oct [1]9/69'.
2
M discussed the palms in B70.04.01, pp 99-104, having examined the generic position when he transferred Kentia monostachya from Areca, pp. 82-83.
3
The following text is filed at f. 412. It has been placed here because of the annotation on f. 400. M to J. Hooker, 29 January 1870 reports that plants from the list on f. 412 had arrived on the clipper George Thompson (which sailed from London on 25 October 1869 [Argus, 12 January 1870, p. 4]), but does not mention the arrival of any of the items requested on f. 400.
4
Aconitum?

Please cite as “FVM-69-08-14c,” 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/69-08-14c