To Odoardo Beccari   16 April 1885

16/4/85

My best gratitude is due to you, dear Dr Beccari, for sending me the splendid first half of the second volume of your “Malesia”,1 in which you have shed a flood of light on the “ant plants” and gave other most interesting information concerning sundan and papuan vegetation.

It is much regret that I can not send you Australian specimens of Hydnophytum and Myrmecodia. I have none from Cape York, unless in late supplemental collections, and took the two up as Australian simply from Sir Jos Hooker’s remarks on Captain Nares collections.2 See G. Ben[n]ett3 in See[man]n’s journ. feb 188[2.] I shall however forward any “ant-plants” to you, whenever such reach me.

Some time go Mons. Antoine, the Director of the Imperial private Garden of Vienne, sent me a sketch of a plant which had accidentally come up in his conservatory.4 He desired me to give him the name, and I had no hesitation of [pr]onouncing it a [Myr]mecodia or [Hydn]ophytum, although the sketch showed neither flowers nor fruits. By this time it may have come into blossoms; so I would advise you, to communicate with M. Antoine, as his living plant would of course greatly interest you.

With very regardful remembrance your

Ferd. von Mueller

I have somewhere given a public record of the occurrence of Pistia Stratiotes near Port Moresby, but do not remember now where it was printed.5

6Of the palms desired by you, I can unfortunately send very little. The collectors procured even in first instance mostly only miserable material, and of this much was sent permanently to Kew, so that you may have there a chance to follow up your important study of the palms also as regards australian sp. What little I can furnish you with I will dispatch by this post.

Best thanks for your very friendly allusion to me again in the Ma[lesia] and for identif[i]ng7 my name with one ant plant.8

 

Hydnophytum

Myrmecodia

Pistia Stratiotes

 
1
Beccari (1877-90).
2
M listed these genera in B83.13.16, p. 75; and mentions them being found at Cape York in B69.10.01, p. 45, on the un-cited authority of J. Hooker and of Bennett (1868).
3
editorial insertion: MS torn. Unless otherwise stated, later insertions in [ ] have this meaning.
4
Letters not found.
5
Written in central and outside margin of p. 2. No printed source has been found, but see M to J. Hooker, 1 June 1883 and M to O. Nordstedt, 12 August 1881.
6
The following text is from a sheet pinned to this letter.
7
editorial additions: text obscured by adhered flap of envelope.
8
Myrmecodia muelleri, Beccari (1877-90), vol. 2, p. 102.

Please cite as “FVM-85-04-16f,” 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 20 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/85-04-16f