I am informed by Mr. Fitzgerald1 that Captain Broomfield assured him of the occurrence of the Dendrobium, figured in the Australian Orchids as D. superbiens, on the Prince of Wales' Group, about 20 miles from the mainland of Queensland, and 50 miles from New Guinea,2 and he adds that it is also to be found sparingly on the nearest mainland of Australia.3 Captain Broomfield cultivates this splendid Orchid, and he considers it superior to all his others in this — that it is the only one absolutely always in flower, a raceme being obtainable at any time.
F. v. M.
Dendrobium superbiens
Letter not found.
i.e. in Torres Strait.
R. Fitzgerald (1875-94), vol. 2, tab. 70. The Gardeners' chronicle had reviewed the first part of vol. 2 in the issue of 10 May 1884, p. 609, identifying D. superbiens as a Queensland species, whereas Fitzgerald had written that the specimen figured was obtained from North Queensland.
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Dendrobium superbiens' in 'Home correspondence', Gardeners' chronicle, 16 August 1884, p. 214 (B84.08.01). It is dated to early July as the latest likely date for the letter to have been sent, to have been included in this issue.
Please cite as “FVM-84-07-00b,” 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