The plant submitted to my inspection is the cerastium vulgatum, or British horn-weed. It is common as a native plant all throughout Europe and occurs also in North Africa and temperate Asia as an original plant. From thence it has spread to most parts of the globe, and we have it as a weed here since very many years in Australia at the settlements. Particular seasons will favor its growth. As this cerastium is fortunately an annual, it can be suppressed by turning the ground infested by it for a time into pasture land, inasmuch as perennial grasses and fodder herbs would soon overpower it. It is not known that this plant possesses any noxious properties, nor is it likely to prove thus far deleterious, although the copiousness of its seeds and the facility of their germination will always render the cerastium a powerful invader of land broken up for culture, and encroach on the cereals.
Cerastium vulgatum
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Poison plant', Leader (Melbourne), 6 November 1875, p. 7 (B77.11.03). M's letter is in response to a query from 'W.M.', Barnawartha (Vic) dated 22 October, about a supposed poisonous plant published above it. Letter is introduced by 'Dr. Mueller favours us with the following:-'. It is possible that M wrote his reply at the end of October, but it is dated to early November as the latest that it could have been written.
Please cite as “FVM-75-11-00b,” 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