To George Bentham   1 December 1874

Melbourne

1/12/74.

 

I have not been able, dear Mr Bentham, to do much for the Flora this month, because I struggled for the increase of my working vote of £300 (without buildings available);1 and some of my time was taken up by geographic matters, partly arising from a visit of the explorers Forrest to Victoria after a brave dash of theirs through deserts from W. Australia to S. Australia.2 What little phytographically I have done is contained in the last number (71) of the fragmenta,3 which concludes the eighth volume.

RBrown must have overrated the species of the genus of Cyperus much. Including Mariscus and Kyllingia he gives 46, whereas I can distinguish (with the numerous additions included) only 39.4

Courtoisia (which I have not seen from Australia) is most certainly a section of Cyperus, but Anosporum is a good genus. It is Thwaites's Cyperus Hookerianus. It is curious, that our Ceylon friend did not find out any of the older synonyms.

Among Rochels Hungarian plants I find 3 Cyperi new for Germany: C. congestus, C. polystachyos,5 & C. pygmaeus; two of these are indeed new for Europe, unless indeed C. pygmaeus should prove after all only a state of Isolepis Micheliana.6

I wonder, whether Böcklers7 observations do coincide with mine.

Let me hope you are strong and well.

Always with deep regards your

Ferd von Mueller

 

The Palm discovered by Mr Giles in the "glen of Palms" I find now to be distinct and have called it Livistona Mariae.8

 

Anosporum

Courtoisia

Cyperus congestus

Cyperus Hookerianus

Cyperus polystachyos

Cyperus pygmaeus

Isolepis Micheliana

Kyllingia

Livistona Mariae

Mariscus

 
1
See Victoria, Parliamentary Debates, Session 1874 , vol. 20, pp. 2169-71 (25 November) and 2178-9 (26 November).
2
John and Alexander Forrest, travelling with four others, using horses and without camels, left Perth on 18 March 1874 and arrived at the Peake station on the Overland telegraph line in SA on 30 September. See Threadgill (1922), pp. 150-2. On 25 November, the Mayor invited M, among others, to welcome the Forrest brothers at a small reception at the Melbourne Town Hall ( Argus , 26 November 1874, p. 5).
3
B74.11.01.
4
B74.11.01, pp. 259-71.
5
C. polystachyus?
6
Although there were no Cyperus specimens collected by A. Rochel included in the incomplete Australian Virtual Herbarium data base (accessed 10 October 2014) a large number of specimens of other genera collected by him in Hungary were listed for the National Herbarium of Victoria. Rochel's plants were included in the Steetz herbarium that M purchased in 1863. See M to G. Bentham, 12 December 1863, and Short & Sinkora (1988).
7
Böckeler? The reference is probably to Boeckeler (1868-77).
8
See B74.08.01, p. 221 and B74.13.01, p. 283.

Please cite as “FVM-74-12-01a,” 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/74-12-01a