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From Alfred Howitt to Ferdinand von Mueller   13 Sep 1879

Sale1

Sep 13 1879

My dear Sir Ferdinand

I must apologize for a seeming neglect in not before now acknowledging your kind present of the first two decades of your Atlas of the Eucalypts.2 I have examined it with the greatest interest — its value here and at home will be extremely appreciated.

I am now commencing to collect for you a series of E. Risdoni &c. of which I send you herewith the first example.

Trees under 50 ft — scraggy and with scanty foliage. Bark thick, fibrous out to the small branches. Seedlings oval opposite leaves set at short intervals. Foliage similar on the tree but the young shoots and some of the older ones have elongated leaves. This example grows in a rather swampy piece of ground — sandy clay — about 9 miles from Stratford3 on the Bairnsdale Road.

yours faithfully

A W Howitt

P.S. I feel highly honored at your proposal to name a new Eucalypt after me4 and will collect further examples of it from Castleburn, Dargo and Ensay.5

Eucalyptus risdoni

1

Vic.

2

B79.13.11, Decades 1, 2.

3

Vic.

4

Eucalyptus howittiana, B82.08.04, p. 172.

5

All Vic.

6

MS found with a specimen of Eucalyptus cephalocarpa (MEL 1606637). MS annotations by M: 'Euc. cinerea', 'E. pulverulenta' and 'Answ 14/9/79'. Letter not found.

Please cite as “FVM-79-09-13,” 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 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/79-09-13