1/3/83.
After the mail-work, dear Prof. Tate, I commenced this afternoon at once the examination of your plants1 and finished off so far as to anounce the addition of three plants to the S.A. Flora, namely Phyllanthus australis, Lobelia platycalyx and a new species of Nablonium, to which I shall give your honored name To morrow I will write carefully a diagnosis and forward it to you, so that you can introduce your essay by a new plant.2 The Grevillea may be a form of G. parviflora, but without flowers that remains doubtful. The Hydrocotyle = H. tripartita; the supposed Choretrum = Leptomeria aphylla; the Myoporum is the typical M. parvifolium and may be distinct from M. humile; — the Patersonia = P. glauca;3 — the restoid looking pl. = Chorizandra enodis; — Scirpus nodosus = S. inundatus; — Schoenus brevifolius = S. nitens;4 — the annual grass = Festuca bromoides; — the Distichlis = Sporobolus Virginianus;5 — the Potamogeton may be distinct from P. natans, but it is not in fruit.
Regardfully your
Ferd von Mueller
Have you an other specimen of the Nablonium Tatei to spare?
Choretrum
Chorizandra enodis
Distichlis
Festuca bromoides
Grevillea parviflora
Hydrocotyle tripartita
Leptomeria aphylla
Lobelia platycalyx
Myoporum humile
Myoporum parvifolium
Nablonium
Patersonia glauca
Phyllanthus australis
Potamogeton natans
Schoenus brevifolius
Schoenus nitens
Scirpus inundatus
Scirpus nodosus
Sporobolus Virginianus
The specimens examined were evidently plants from Kangaroo Island, SA, as the corrected names given in the letter are those that appear in Tate (1883).
No publication of Nablonium tatei has been found (APNI, accessed 29 March 2023). It is probably Achnophora tatei collected by Tate on Kangaroo Island, described in B83.12.03, p. 33, in the part of the paper read to the Royal Society of SA on 3 April 1883. Tate had recognised that it was a new species and thought that it had some resemblance to a Brachycome (see labels with MEL 7175586). In his description, M mentioned that it was 'in appearance like the smaller species of Brachycome' and explicitly distinguished it from Nablonium.
The first five determinations are each ticked in the margin.
This name is marked with a tick above it.
S. virginicus?
Please cite as “FVM-83-03-01,” 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