To Joseph Hooker   10 December 1884

10/12/84.1

 

Allow me the pleasure, dear Sir Joseph, to introduce to you Dr Guppy, R.N., who was lately attached to H.M. Ship Lark, and had thus a splendid opportunity of collecting plants in the but little explored Solomons Islands.2 It was the kind intention of Dr Guppy, that I should examine his collection; but as I have to elaborate the analytic Key of Victorian plants,3 which will take up my spare time for many months, I have advised the Doctor to take his bot. collections with him to England, though I am sad to be obliged to give up such an interesting engagement, especially as I hope to continue working on the Papuan Flora.

Numerous fruit-specimens were very carefully preserved by Dr Guppy in Alcohol, so that their examination can be instituted under the most favorable circumstances. He promised the ferns to Mr Carruthers, and perhaps some other of his plants may go to the Kensington Museum.4 Very few were kept back by me here for elaboration.5

Regardfully your

Ferd. von Mueller.

1
The blank page opposite the date is annotated[Thursday afternoon] JH.
2
Guppy undertook a survey in the Western Pacific, 1881-4; see Guppy (1887), (1887a).
3
B86.13.01, B88.13.03. For M’s difficulties with preparing this publication see Lucas, Maroske and Brown-May (2006).
4
i.e. London's British Museum (Natural History), now the Natural History Museum.
5
M named Quercus guppyi in Guppy’s honour (B84.12.03, p. 123) but assigned it to the incorrect family and genus. He later noted the error and assigned the species to Litsea in Lauraceae, although apparently he did not make a new combination in print: the sheet in the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL 2354431) bears a label in M’s handwriting with the name Litsea (Cylicodaphne) guppyi . See also Guppy to W. Thiselton-Dyer, 3 July 1885 (in this edition as M85-07-03), where Guppy says he had misinformed M that the tree has true acorns. See also annotation on M to J. Hooker, 6 January 1885.

Please cite as “FVM-84-12-10,” 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 8 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/84-12-10