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From Ferdinand von Mueller to Ralph Tate   1 Oct 1883

31/9/83.1

The Craspedia-like plant, sent by you latterly,2 dear Prof. Tate, is Calocephalus platycephalus; the second Podocoma is merely a variety; I know the transitory states. Herewith a diagnosis of your Babbagia, should you not have written one already.3 Perhaps Australia will prove finally to be the richest land for Salsolaceae except Central & S.W. Asia in comparison to area, as ¼ of all known plants of the order are Australian, and doubtless many will yet be added from the interior. I will refer to the Loranthus in my next letter.

Regardfully your

Ferd. von Mueller.

I have mislaid the Loranthus, so do not wait.4

Babbagia

Calocephalus platycephalus

Craspedia

Loranthus

Podocoma

Salsolaceae

1

M presumably wrote on 1 October 1883.

2

See M to R. Tate, 26 September 1883 (in this edition as 83-09-26b).

3

See M to R. Tate, 26 September 1883 (in this edition as 83-09-26b) M's diagnosis is not in the file. There are two Babbagia species described by M and Tate in B83.14.02, pp. 108-9, namely B. pentaptera and B. acropetra, both from the Aroona Range, SA. The portion of the paper containing the descriptions said to have been read to the Royal Society of SA on 2 October. In M to R. Tate, 26 September 1883 (in this edition as 83-09-26b), M commented 'Babbagia pentaptera Tate. I will dissect it carefully; very interesting indeed'.

4

In B83.14.02, Loranthus murrayi is described under the joint authorship, but is listed in the portion of the paper said to have been read on 2 October 1883. In M to R. Tate, 30 November 1883, M suggested a change to its definition 'if not too late', but the suggestion was not included. The last meeting of the Royal Society of SA for the session 1882-83 was the annual meeting held on 2 October 1883, when 'Professor TATE gave outlines of five papers by himself and Baron von Mueller' (Transactions and proceedings and report of the Royal Society of South Australia, vol. 6, p. 186). Tate, as editor, evidently included material received from M after that meeting in the continuation of the paper read on 7 August, and dated its reading to the final meeting of the session. The volume was issued in December.

Please cite as “FVM-83-10-01a,” 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/83-10-01a