To Joseph Hooker   8 February 1883

8/2/83

This day, dear Sir Joseph, I was greatly pleased to receive the finishing part of the third volume of your important "Flora of British India,"¹ the value of which cannot be overrated.

In casting a glance on the pages I notice, that you maintain the name Lysimachia Javanica. Allow me, to draw your attention to the appendix, written by me for Campbell's New Hebrides in 1873.² Receiving Lysimachia decurrens from Java then, therefore from the very place, where the Forsters obtained their plant, I enquired into the synonymy, and was able from authentic specimens to refer L. Javanica, L. multiflora and L. Sinica to L. decurrens. This I mentioned to Dr Hance at the time, who received also "Campbell's New Hebrides," and hence it was, that he distributed the plant under its oldest name. An insignificant publication, such as my contribution to the little work above named, is so easily overlooked, that it is not surprising, that you missed the reference to the first name.

An other item of some interest to you for the genera ³ will be, that Helmholtzia is likely endemic Australian only. I have just received from M. de la Camera the H. glaberrima, who found it on the summit of the White-cap Mountain near the Tweed-River.⁴ I send a short note now on this subject to Caruel for his giornale⁵ as he is interested in this plant.

I mentioned to you, so soon as I got the plate 6056 of the Bot. Magazine,⁶ that the plant belonged to the genus Helmholtzia, as defined in 1866,⁷ and that it may be a glabrous form of H. acorifolia.⁸ In reply you wrote, that you had asked Prof. Oliver, to see, whether the plant occurred in the "fragmenta," but that he had missed to note it;⁹ my Census¹⁰ will facilitate all references to that work in future.

Regardfully your

Ferd. von Mueller.

Helmholtzia acorifolia

Helmholtzia glaberrima

Lysimachia decurrens

Lysimachia Javanica

Lysimachia multiflora

Lysimachia Sinica