19/1/87
Only a few lines this time, dear Mr Carruthers, to ask, whether you could let me know, if in R. Brown's collection the leaves of the real Sterculia foetida exist, as collected in Australia by him in 1802.1
As your illustrious predecessor saw only leaves, he may have been misled. What Bentham adduced from New South Wales as Sterculia foetida is [T]arrietia in an almost scaleless form.
Still, as S foetida has a wide distribution over intra-tropic Asia, it may occur in Carpentaria; but I never yet saw an Australian specimen of the genuine plant.
Regardfully
your
Ferd. von Mueller.
Sterculia foetida
Tarrietia
In his plant list for 2 November 1802 Robert Brown (1773-1858) included 'Sterculia foetida? fol: tantum visa' [leaves barely seen], R. Brown (2001). p. 298. See Bentham (1863-78), vol. 1, pp. 226-7, who could not find Brown's specimens and inserted it 'on Brown's authority, assigning some Beckler specimens of leaves from NSW to the same taxon. See also Bean (2004). M had long had doubts about the species: see M to G. Bentham, 26 March 1867, in this edition as 66-03-26a.
Please cite as “FVM-87-01-19,” 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