Sale1
Jany 26 /89
Dear Baron
I send you by this post some fresh samples of the "Stringybark" Eucalypt of which I spoke to you the other day.2 You will from them be able to see I hope how the foliage looks in a fresh condition. A marked characteristic of the Saplings say up to 10 ft in height is the tendency of the leaves to assume a more or less horizontal position in which the rather dead colored leaves show a shining upper page. The height of all the trees I observed this trip was under 150 ft and I would therefore desire to correct my previous estimate of 170 ft.
I saw Mr James McAlpine of Tarraville who has lived since a boy in South Gippsland. He told me that there are several fences near Woranga which to his knowledge have been erected between 30 and 40 years and of which the posts were split from this Eucalypt. He is a trustworthy informant. I am now making further enquiries as to the durability of the timber.
The samples now sent are from Darraman about 25 miles from Sale in the Port Albert Road.
This Eucalypt is now just coming into thick bloom and the panniculate arrangement of the umbels is very marked.
yours faithfully
A W Howitt
Baron Ferd v. Mueller KCMG
&c &c
Melbourne
Please cite as “FVM-89-01-26b,” 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