December 15, 1887.
Herewith I send you duplicate specimens of a plant, which I do not recognize. Since my return from Port Lincoln,1 I have been so much engaged on Examination work,2 finishing my manuscript on Part I of the fossil univalves of the Australian Tertiary,3 and clearing off certain arrears of other work before I can leave for my vacational residence, that I have not made a study of the little shrub; as to-morrow I shall be removed from books & material for comparison for the next three months, it will not be possible to me to give it attention for that long period.4
I trust the plant will prove of interest to you it [is]5 a stragling6 shrub, lengthening to one foot or more, more or less supported on low herbage. Heath-ground near the Fountain, 17 miles west from Port Lincoln.7
My Port Lincoln [trip] was very barren of results. Casuarina quadrivalvis & C. distyla are common but I failed to recognize either C. torulosa or C. bicuspidata
Yours very sincerely
Ralph Tate
Casuarina bicuspidata
Casuarina distyla
Casuarina quadrivalvis
Casuarina torulosa
SA. Tate and John Ednie Brown arrived in Port Lincoln on 30 November to select a site for a forest reserve (South Australian Register, 1 December 1887, p. 5).
At the University of Adelaide.
Tate (1888).
Tate for many years had a farm at Nairne, SA, where he spent his holidays.
editorial addition.
straggling?
Commersonia tatei, attributed to M, was described in Tate (1889b), p. 82.
MS found with a specimen of Commersonia tatei (MEL 236399). MS annotation by M: 'Answ 18/12/87 FvM'. Letter not found.
Please cite as “FVM-87-12-15,” 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