Forest Board Office,
Adelaide, 23/12/78.
Baron Von Muller MD
Sir,
Enclosed I beg to hand you letter of introduction to yourself which I received some days ago from Mr Goyder, Surveyor General.1
I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your favor of the 18th inst2 — for which please accept of my best thanks.
When up country some time ago, I came across the tree which you describe as "E. leucoxylon," and as I am new as yet to the Australian Flora and did not know this one, I sent you a branchlet intending to write you on the subject immediately on my return to town. I returned two days ago and was [going to …]3 with you when your letter arrived.
As I have said, the Australian Flora is new to me as yet, and as I find great difficulty in getting reliable information on the subject of the proper Botanical names of our indigenous trees, I thought the better plan would be to refer specimens of those kinds which I did not know, to an authority in such matters in order that I might obtain their proper classification — hence Mr Goyder's letter of introduction. If, therefore, I do not intrude too much upon your valuable time, I should like to send you specimens for this purpose from time to time as I find them in flower.
By today's post, I have taken the liberty to send you four specimens, about the names of the trees of which there is considerable doubt here. These are:
| no. | 1. | Apparently a variety of E. rostrata |
|
" |
2 — |
A fine tree resembling —do— |
|
" |
3 — |
Called "Sugar Gum" by colonists — not described by Bentham |
|
" |
4 — |
A tree with [fine] foliage — not in flower yet. |
When convenient to yourself, I should like to hear from you giving the Botanical names of these species of Eucalyptus and stating where I could find their specific character.
Apologising for the trouble I am giving you
I am
Sir
Your obt st.4
J. E. Brown
Eucalyptus leucoxylon
Eucalyptus rostrata
Please cite as “FVM-78-12-23,” 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