[Once upon a time it was stated that there were no double flowers in Australia, then that they were rare, then that they only existed in cultivated plants, and that Australia was young in cultural matters, therefore there was a scarcity of double flowers. Most of these propositions have been overthrown by the progress of discovery, so that now-a-days it would be easy to find acceptance for the belief that the proportion of wild double flowers is about the same in Australia as anywhere else. Be this as it may Baron von Mueller has lately sent us flowers of an Eriostemon bearing numerous double flowers towards the ends of the branches.]1
Eriostemon
The item concludes with comments upon its potential as a greenhouse plant propagated from cuttings, and a description of the nature of the doubling.
Both the Leader (Melbourne), 3 March 1888, p. 14, and the Australasian (Melbourne), 3 March 1888, p. 469, mention this report in their horticultural pages.
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Eriostemon obovalis fl. Pl.', Gardeners' chronicle, 21 January 1888, p. 84. It is dated to early December as the latest it could have been sent to have been reported in this issue.
Please cite as “FVM-87-12-00d,” 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