To William Munro   20 March 1879

20/3/79

 

Allow me, dear General Munro, to consult you as the great investigator of Gramineae, in reference to the Australian species of Phragmites. Mr Bentham has admitted in the flora Australiensis only one species; 1 but it seems, that the tropical Phragmites, which occurs not only in North Queensland, but which I have also recently received from the Nickol-Bay district of West Australia, does not die down annually, like the British common Phragmites, which latter seems however clearly identical with our southern Australian species. The difference between what I suppose is Phragm. Roxburghii and Phragm. communis is thus very striking, and probably it is supported by other characteristics, such as the limited material here at my disposal does not readily allow me to trace out but which you will long since have studied fully. It seems to me, also, that P. Roxburghii is a larger plant than P. communis.

I have a few other grasses from several parts of Australia, which were discovered since the 7th vol. of the Flora Australiensis appeared; of these I will gladly send you specimens, if you should desire it, by which means the Australian material obtained from my Museum-collections will be kept complete with you.

With reverence your

Ferd. von Mueller, M.D.

 

Gramineae

Phragmites communis

Phragmites Roxburghii

Phragmites communis , Bentham (1863-78), vol. 7, p, 636.

Please cite as “FVM-79-03-20,” 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 29 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/79-03-20