31/1/71
Not very long ago, dear Madam, I got the select plants, which you kindly sent through our good Mr Woolls to me, and of which I now furnish the names. Several give us new localities, and these will be quoted with the name of the accomplished finder.1
I hope Mr Calvert will not be angry with me, for not doing more for him respecting the Angoras, wished by him. But I am almost powerless in this matter, for altho' I am Senior Vice President at the Acclimation-Society since its existence, and altho I hold free trade principles at the broadest base, the majority of my colleagues on the Acclim Council want to retain the Angoras in Victoria, a very large sum of money having been spent on them by our Society, to import them. I sent on my own impulse a pair to Sir Will Denison about 12 years ago (before the Society existed) and from that pair is the flock now so much increased under Mr Blacks care in your colony.2
Tell Mr Calvert, please, that a little preliminary ride is to be effected into the interior by a Surveyor, Mr Birch, of the Thomson River,3 to see whether the insane survivor of Leichhardts party can not be brought to the settlement.4
When all my anxieties will have passed, I hope to work on the grasses and rushes for the 6th vol of the Flora.5 If you could favor me with any of these plants, particularly rushes and sedges, from your thus far unknown locality you would be certain to add again to the material for the work. Dr Hooker always asks me to send him seeds of Loranthaceae for cultivation at Kew. If you should pass the Atkinsonia in fruit at any time, pray bear kindly his request in remembrance. I believe that this beautiful & remarkable plant could be propagated from cuttings under a bell glass, if it once was raised at Kew.
With gratitude & best regards for you & Mr Calvert
Ferd von Mueller
The war6 has upset almost scientific literary work in Germany or at least brought it for a time to a stand still. So Prof Moebius tells me by last mail.7 But your fine drawings are all safe and will probably be sent to Prof Krauss in Stuttgart (a special friend of mine) for the Royal Museum there with a view of literary utilisation at the first favorable opportunity.
|
1. |
Anthocercis albicans All. Cunningham. |
|
12. |
Choretrum lateriflorum RBr. |
|
5. |
Calycothrix tetragona Labill. |
|
21. |
Mirbelia reticulata Sm |
|
10. |
Leptospermum parvifolium Smith. |
|
6 |
Logania floribunda Br. |
|
7 |
Eriostemon (Phebalium) lepidotus Sprengel. |
|
13 |
Leptomeria acerba Br. |
|
2 |
Philotheca Australis Budge. |
|
11. |
Ionidium filiforme F.v.M. |
|
16 |
Styphelia (Leucopogon) virgata Labill. also 15. |
|
17. |
Styphelia (Leucopogon) ericoides Labill. |
|
14 |
Epacris paludosa RBr. |
|
19. |
Callitris (of the section Frenela) of which I should be glad to see the fruit (& flowers) |
|
3. |
Boronia polygalifolia Sm. var trifoliolata. |
|
4 |
Boronia anemonifolia, A. Cunningh |
|
9 |
Kunzea capitata, Reichenbach |
|
8 |
Kunzea parvifolia Schauer. |
|
20 |
Acacia elongata Sieb. |
|
18 |
a variety of Prostanthera incisa Sieber |
Acacia elongata
Anthocercis albicans
Atkinsonia
Boronia anemonifolia
Boronia polygalifolia
Callitris
Calycothrix tetragona
Choretrum lateriflorum
Epacris paludosa
Eriostemon lepidotus
Frenela
Ionidium filiforme
Kunzea capitata
Kunzea parvifolia
Leptomeria acerba
Leptospermum parvifolium
Leucopogon ericoides
Leucopogon virgata
Logania floribunda
Loranthaceae
Mirbelia reticulata
Phebalium lepidotum
Philotheca Australis
Prostanthera incisa
Styphelia ericoides
Styphelia virgata
Very little of Louisa Calvert's correspondence survives (see P. Clarke (1990), pp. 226-7), but it is known that her correspondence with M was more extensive than has been found. She quoted a letter from M in a newspaper article, 'A voice from the country. Among the Murrumbidgee limestones', Sydney morning herald, 11 May 1870, p. 2, where she reports collecting ferns and being told by M that 'the locality of P[teris] longifolia will be a new one'.
Probably John Black, whose breeding of Angora goats was reported at meetings of the New South Wales Acclimatisation Society from 1862.
Qld.
Charles Birch was about to embark on a search for a supposed survivor from Leichhardt's last expedition; see M to C. Birch, 29 August 1870 (in this edition as 70-08-29a) and M to C. Birch, 14 February 1871 (in this edition as 71-02-14a).
Bentham (1863-78), vol. 6 of which was published in 1873.
Franco-Prussian war, 1870-71.
Letter not found.
Formerly Louisa Atkinson.
Please cite as “FVM-71-01-31,” 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