From George Bentham   17 April 1872

Herbarium

Royal Gardens Kew

April 17 /72

My dear Sir

I have to thank you for two letters since I last wrote — I have already acknowledged to you the receipt of the £100 for the sixth volume1 and am much obliged for the trouble you have given yourself about it — I have also to thank you for the complete copy of the 7th vol. of your Fragmenta

I have not advanced very rapidly since I last wrote. I have just finished the Euphorbiaceae with linear embryos which I think Muell. Arg.2 is right in establishing as a distinct Australian tribe though I do not quite agree with him in some of his generic distinctions — still less can I agree with Baillon in considering the flower-head of Euphorbia as a single flower whilst that of Calycopeplus as a flowerhead3 The two genera are closely allied although I think that Calycopeplus (with a second species amongst Drummonds with a still more developped female perianth and no glands to the involucre) may be kept up rather as a genus than as a section. Baillon appears to me also to have rather hastily united or distinguished species from general habit or foliage without always having regard to the floral or fruit characters and some species of Baillon's are the same of4 some of Muell. Arg.! which he had not seen — this was to be expected under the circumstances of the two working contemporaneously without intercommunication. I shall endeavour to avoid that in the Artocarpeae by communicating with Bureau who is doing them for the Prodromus5

I presume the Monochlamydeae will reach to about half the volume. I have on consulting with Dr Hooker determined on deferring the Palms to a later stage in the series and commence Monocotyledons with Pandaneae and allies Aroideae6 etc then the apocarpous orders and then those with inferior ovaries Hydrocharideae — Scitamineae — all the above not numerous in Australia so that room will I suppose be left for the whole of the Orchideae — if not for the whole of the inferior ovary Orders. I shall be glad therefore to have these Orders sent soon as I do not expect to be much away from work this summer

As soon as I have done the Euphorbiaceae I shall despatch a second box. The bill of lading of the last was sent off to you by the authorities of the Herbarium

Ever yours sincerely

George Bentham

 

Baron F. v. Mueller

 

Aroideae

Artocarpeae

Calycopeplus

Euphorbia

Euphorbiaceae

Hydrocharideae

Monochlamydeae

Orchideae

Pandaneae

Scitamineae

1
See G. Bentham to M, 25 January 1872 (in this edition as 72-01-25a).
2
See J. Müller (1866); for the Australian Tribe, Stenolobeae, see J. Müller (1864a).
3
See Baillon (1866), p. 320.
4
sic .
5
Bureau (1873).
6
This plan was not followed: Pandaneae and Aroideae followed Palmae in Bentham (1863-78), vol .7, while Monocotyledons began with Hydrocharideae in vol. 6, p. 255.

Please cite as “FVM-72-04-17,” 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 20 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/72-04-17