From William Woolls   21 July 1875

Richmond1

July 21 /75

My dear doctor,

When Mr Fitzgerald went to the Kurrajong2 the day before yesterday, I asked him to examine the plants of Palmeria once more. To my delight, he brought me the accompanying specimen, which I suppose to be that of the female flowers. We must now search for the males! The flowers are yellowish.3

I send my remarks on Mr F's book.4 Between ourselves, I wish he had reserved his essay5 for a separate paper. It seems out of place.

The drawings are beautifully done

With kind regards

Yours very sincerely

W. Woolls

 

Baron F. von Mueller C.M.G

 

Palmeria

 
1
NSW.
2
NSW.
3
Woolls continued his interest in Palmeria , reporting that 'from specimens which I forwarded to' M from Illawarra, 'that eminent botanist inclines to the opinion that [ P. scandens and P. racemosa ] must be united' (Woolls 1882a) (letters not found). M recognised only P. scandens in B89.13.12, p. 6.
4
Probably a copy of the anonymous review, almost certainy by Woolls, of the first part of Fitzgerald (1875-94), Sydney morning herald , 21 July 1875, p. 3.
5
Fitzgerald's Darwinian introduction (vol. 1, pp. 1–5) focusing on the fertilization and fecundity of orchids. See also C. Darwin to R. Fitzgerald, 16 July 1875 (Burkhardt et al., 2015, pp. 276-7).

Please cite as “FVM-75-07-21,” 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 23 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/75-07-21