[Some considerable time ago Mr. Edgar, the Botanic Garden, received from Baron Von Mueller, with whom he is in constant correspondence, three seeds of a papaw, new to Australia, and a native of South America. These were carefully dealt with, and the result is three plants which have reached maturity. One of them is a male, the others females. The latter are now covered with fruit of large size.]
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'General news', Capricornian (Rockhampton), 1 August 1891, p. 19. In his annual report presented at a meeting of the Trustees of the Rockhampton Botanic Garden on 11 April 1892 (Daily northern argus, 12 April 1892, p. 6, Edgar identifies the species as Carica papaya. Reports of the time taken from planting seeds to fruiting vary but the minimum is about 14 months. M's supply of seeds to Edgar is dated to 1889, as the latest likely date, although 'some considerable time ago' might suggest earlier. In B95.08.04, M cites Edgar as the source of his statement 'Bears enormously in Eastern sub-tropical Australia, producing fruits occasionally of 4 lbs weight'.
Please cite as “FVM-89-00-00,” 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