To Asa Gray   25 August 1883

25/8/83

The "Census",¹ dear Dr Gray, is to serve multifarious purposes; here as an index to the Australian portion of my Museum, as a framework of a new flora &c. &c. Allow me also to remark, what I have done already in a former letter, that since nearly 20 years I have no longer kept the Monochlamydeae (or as now unnecessarily called Incompletae) together, that I implored Bentham & Hooker, when they commenced the "genera"² to do away with that unnatural portion of the Jussieu system,³ changed by D.C.⁴ from Apetaleae to Monochlamydeae, to which pleading the answer was, that D.C' system must be adhered to in its entirety, because it was every where in use! According to that, also Habit does not debar Cucurbitaceae to be brought near Compositae, both gamapetalous. The grand climber, Senecio scandens, covers many a wall or bower here. Acanthosicyos horrida is an almost leafless but spiny bush without tendrils. The flowers of some Melothrias are smaller than those of many Composites (Cynara Scolymus etc.) The contact given by me to Orders cannot be applied to all other countries, as not all orders are represented in Australia; but I do think, that I have for the first time given to Elatineae, Plumbagineae, Plantagineae and some others their exact systematic position. The Curvembryonatae are all inseparable.

Pardon me, when I remark, that from the very commencement of my using the nat. system, more than 40 years ago, I felt that the wording Polypetaleae and Monopetaleae are misnomers, as in the great majority of cases their flowers are oligopetalous. The terms Choripetaleae and Synpetaleae are publicly with me in 1866,⁵ long before Eichler,⁶ who however was not aware of this fact.

Jackson in his "guide" writes also Linné.⁷ DC writes Linne.⁸ I have nearly all L.'s⁹ works, but not the three "Resa",¹⁰ so that I do not know, how L spelled his name in his native tongue. The accent is to show merely that the end e is not a silent one.

I see however in my library, that Schrebers edition of the Materia medica in Latin (1773) says Caroli a Linné mat. med.!¹¹ As he was a disciple of L., this ought to be some authority. In Germany I never saw L.'s name otherwise written; indeed not only Brockhaus writes it so in the Encyclopaedie,¹² but also Chambers in the English Encyclopaedia.¹³ It seemed to me best to adhere to one mode of spelling the names of Botanists, thus I kept to l'Ecluse, Bock¹⁴ &c

It is with deep sorrow, that I hear of Mr. Bentham's failing health; after some repose he is likely to become invigorated again, unless some form of organic disease set in. We shall miss that great man all very much, after he passed away; my wish to meet him once in life will not likely be realized.

The use of the seeds of Abrus in Pannus and Trachoma will interest you much, as it depends on a bacterian fermentive principle, and supersedes so much more rationally and controlably the use of other inflammatory secretions, such as the antiquated blennorrhoeal. Some of the Australian Olearias are almost herbaceous, for instance O. ciliata; at best the woody stem could as little be generic as in Senecio & numerous other Composite genera Australian and Extraaustralian, so far as I venture to judge. Let me hope that you are now quite well again and with ease and happiness continue your glorious researches. Regardfully your

Ferd von Mueller

In sorting out plants into the great divisions, it is now quite a comfort to me, not to be troubled with the Monochlamydeae. Two European University-Professors sent me lately a Polycarpaea each as a Gomphrena; this is very pardonable, but shows, that a system cannot be in all respects natural, which keeps Caryophylleae near the commencement of Dicotyledonea and Amarant.¹⁵ near their end. I admit, that a difficulty exists about the term Calyceae, especially so long as we have not yet settled the value of Lodiculae etc in Grasses, unless we adopt implicitly the views of Hackel. But to call the floral lobes of Orchids, Amaryllideae &c sepals and petals, is utterly inconsonant to calyx lobes and petals in Rosaceae, Myrtaceae &c

Linné's system should have never been abandoned. The Monochlamydeae may still drag on til the end of the century, but will not likely be maintained far into the next secular epoch! I need not mention to so leading a naturalist as yourself, to what extremity B. & H.¹⁶ are driven, by being obliged to place actually the Loranthaceae into the Monochlamydeae.

If we maintain the name Polypetalae on priority, we must keep up also Monopetaleae.

Abrus

Acanthosicyos horrida

Amaranthaceae

Amaryllideae

Apetaleae

Caryophylleae

Choripetaleae

Compositae

Cucurbitaceae

Curvembryonatae

Cynara Scolymus

Dicotyledonea

Elatineae

Gomphrena

Incompletae

Loranthaceae

Melothria

Monochlamydeae

Monopetaleae

Myrtaceae

Olearia ciliata

Plantagineae

Plumbagineae

Polycarpaea

Polypetaleae

Rosaceae

Senecio scandens

Synpetaleae