To William Thiselton-Dyer1    31 August 1886

31/8/86

 

It is most generous of you, dear Mr Dyer, to send me all those valuable things, announced in your letter of the 10th July,2 and it is very kind of Sir Graham Berry, to see to the transmission. I know those Japanese Xylographic illustrations3 will be most useful in connection with the volumes of Franchet & Savatier,4 and as I am now so much engaged on Papuan plants, the vegetation of China and Japan becomes all the more interesting to me. Fortunately I have a good set of Phillipines-Plants from Cuming, now all named by the help of Kew by Vidal. Some of The Field Naturalists Club urged me lately to get my cryptogamic collections in full order for them; that and many other engagements have taken the little labor, available in the Department, off from making up Duplicates or rather sparespecimens to any large extent. We here shall be all very busy in a variety of ways for 2 or 3 months, as I am myself so much taxed with the “Key”.5

In December, perhaps before, the selecting of type-specimens for Kew shall be resumed, but in many instances the whole material is very scanty, as it often had to come from the remotest regions and hundreds of miles on horses. The fourth supplement of the Census in January next6 will bring the additions up to fully 1000 for the Flora Australiensis, and I have been particularly Careful, to admit only well-marked sp., and to exclude all immigrated plants.

The continuation of the Icones pl. which I get like bot. Mag. regularly from Dulau & Co; is very quick and large now. Do you not intend to mark one of the series as emanating from “Bentham's bequest” on the title page? That might bring more moneys of “wills.”7

Mr Bryon8 Hooker is now in Melbourne again; you will have heard of him. I wrote to Sir Joseph concerning his future prospects, and also spoke to Dr Mein here again about him

Regardfully yr

Ferd von Mueller

 

The supposed Epiblema, spoken of as indigenous in N Zeal. I find to be Thelymitra venosa.9

I will send also various New Guinea plants.

 

Epiblema

Thelymitra venosa

1
MS annotation in pencil by D. Oliver: Ltr [1 D 86]/D.O. [letter not found].
2
Letter not found.
3
Yokusai et al ., (1874).
4
Franchet & Savatier (1875–9).
5
B86.13.01.
6
The fourth supplement (B89.13.13) was much delayed, and dealt with additions for 1887 and 1888, as well as 1886.
7
This paragraph is marked in the margin with a vertical blue pencil line. The phrase ‘Edited for the Bentham Trustees’ was added to the title page of Hooker’s Icones Plantarum from vol. 20, 1890–1, the first to be edited by Daniel Oliver after he succeeded Joseph Hooker.
8
Brian.
9
The paragraph is marked with two vertical blue pencil lines. See Buchanan (1881), p. 357.

Please cite as “FVM-86-08-31,” 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 26 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/86-08-31