W Thiselton Dyer Esq
CMG &c.
Director Roy bot
Garden of
Kew1
12/1/87
I am delighted to learn, dear Mr Dyer, that H.R.H.’s Private Secretary is so pleased with the Eucalyptography. The copy for presentation to the Heir of the Crown2 was sent by Sir George Verdon, the Chairman of the trustees of the public Library here; through which all Gov presentations are made from the several Departments here by order of the Premier. I am not a trustee.
If Livistona Mariae did not germinate from the fruits sent, I can secure a fresh supply. As it is such a rare palm, you ought to have it there.3 The way is a long one, as it takes so much time, before such seeds come to Melbourne. Like with Acorns &c, the embryo should not exsiccate
I am dead tired at the eve of the mail-departure.
So good-bye.
Ferd von Mueller.
Have made arrangements to send several good strong plants of the genuine Xanthorrhoea australis from here about Easter.4
Livistona Mariae
Xanthorrhoea australis
.W Thiselton Dyer ... Kew is written upside-down with respect to the text beginning 12/1/87.
Original folds would have exposed this address, but there is no seal, stamp, or postmark, which suggests this may have been one of a packet of letters.
Please cite as “FVM-87-01-12b,” 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 19 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/87-01-12b