To Joseph Hooker   1 December 1873

Melbourne

1/12//73

 

I was pleasingly surprised, dear Dr Hooker, when the last month's mail brought me the fascicle of the Bot Magazine, in which the (new) Phylidraceous plant was figured.1 I had described it from dried specimens (not absolutely glabrous) in 1866 as Helmholtzia acorifolia, in the 5th vol of the fragmenta, having had the advantage of studying the fruit also.2 The dedication was to Prof Helmholtz of Heidelberg, the discoverer of the Opthalmoscop, who by his instrument gave such power to the work of Graefe, Bowman, Wells, Donders &c. It is not unlikely, that Mr Bull's3 plant was raised from seeds, sent by me, because I am almost sure that I sent him seeds at the time, when this remarkable plant became known to me, good ripe and fresh seeds then being sent to many of my horticultural correspondents in Europe.

Since I last wrote, I have got the female plant of the restiaceous plant, peculiar to the Chatham Islands. It is now ascertained, that it belongs not to the capsular but to the nucular section of the order, standing in the same relation to Leptocarpus as Lepyrodia to Restio. It is therefore advisable to establish a genus on this plant, and this I have called Sporadanthes.4

I have finished a new number of the fragmenta, but shall probably not have complete copies to send til next mail. It is entirely devoted to Grasses as will be the next,5 and I have reduced in it many Indian species to older ones of R Brown's prodromus6

A little essay on the plants of the New Hebrides will perhaps interest you, so the continuation of my elucidation of our fossil fruits and an other supplementary contribution to the Flora of Tasmania7

Pray give me your kind opinion on the genus Macgregoria from Central Australia. My best specimens with full description were sent to you many months ago.8

Always with regardful remembrance your

Ferd. von Mueller.

 

Helmholtzia acorifolia

Leptocarpus

Lepyrodias

Macgregoria

Restio

Sporadanthes

1
Philydrum glaberrimum; Curtis's botanical magazinevol. 99 (1873), t. 6056. (1 September 1873). MS annotation, possibly by Hooker, on text page of Kew Gardens library copy: 'Helmholtzia'.
2
B66.12.04, pp. 202-3.
3
Although the entry in Curtis is not specific, almost certainly William Bull, nurseryman of Chelsea, England, with whom M exchanged seeds; see M to J. Casey, 15 May 1873.
4
Sporadanthus traversiiwas named (attributed to M as a new genus and new species) without description in Buchanan (1875), p. 340. Kirk (1878), p. xli, included a description: 'Sporadanthus traversii, F. Mueller, MS. Lepyrodia traversii, F. Muell.; Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae, VIII., p. 79.'
5
B73.11.03; B73.12.01.
6
Brown (1810).
7
B73.13.01, New Hebrides; B73.11.01, fossils; the Tasmanian reference is probably to B74.13.05.
8
See notes to M to J. Hooker, 8 September 1873 (in this edition as 73-09-08a), for details of the repeated requests for confirmation of the generic status of this plant.

Please cite as “FVM-73-12-01b,” 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 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/73-12-01b