26/9/76.
The Gramineae, dear Mr Bentham, will go to you by the Lord Warden, which Ship will very soon leave our Port. They will be two large boxes. I got the box with Liliaceae safely back.
Your notes on Restiaceae interested me much.1 The short phrases of R Brown were to me often enigmatic and misleading. At the whole, notwithstanding the high and well deserved praise of the prodromus,2 that praise is more bestowable on the generic & ordinal notes than on the specific phrases.
What a labour could I have saved myself, had I come for a six month to London to look on R Brown's plants. This should not be forgotten when any short-comings of mine come under review. In my isolated and helpless position no one would likely have done better, and many far worse.
I admire your zeal & continued unimpaired energy, and wished only that you could concentrate it on the "genera".3 I purchased a copy of that profound work.
Regardfully
Ferd. von Mueller.
I have never yet seen even the print of Drude's & Wendlands Palms of mine.4 Did you write to the latter for my specimens. Up to date I do not know what became of them.
With deep regards
Ferd. von Mueller.
Gramineae
Liliaceae
Restiaceae
Restiaceae were treated in Bentham (1863-78), vol. 7, pp. 208-46, but the notes M mentions have not been found, and could not be included in sheets of the relevant pages as vol. 7 was sent to press early in 1877 and Bentham had not received any proofs by April (G. Bentham to M, 30 April 1877).
R. Brown (1810); for Restiaceae, see pp. 243-57.
Bentham & Hooker (1862-83).
Wendland & Drude (1875). See M to G. Bentham, 28 November 1876, for M's note of the arrival of the paper and his disagreement with the treatment of the generic limits of the palms.
Please cite as “FVM-76-09-26,” 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