9/4/88.1
I am not sure, dear Mr Dyer, whether I have pointed out to you already, that the seeds, which some months ago were sent to you as those of Acacia polybotrya,2 belong to a very different species, namely A. Baileyana. A figure has many weeks ago been lithographed of this extremely rare and beautifully delicate Acacia for the 12th Decade of the Acacias, which part has however not yet appeared, altho' the lithographing of the Acacias is now nearly completed also for the 13th Decade.3 Therewith the Acacias come to a stop for the present, as I am unwilling to admit any species, of which I cannot yet give the analysis from bud to embryo, and as also none will be taken up for my decades, of which any other illustration appeared already. 120 or 130 Acacias, none of which ever illustrated before, should be a good permanent help for naming Acacias anywhere in culture; and we may annually get additional material, so as to give more plates. But I write on this occasion principly with a view of your getting any seedlings of A. Baileyana at once correctly named. I next shall tackle lithographically Salsolaceae of Australia,4 many of them though not all5 being so important for sheep-pastures
Regardfully your
Ferd. von Mueller.
Acacia Baileyana
Acacia polybotrya
Salsolaceae
Please cite as “FVM-88-04-09,” 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