To William Thiselton-Dyer   19 June 1889

19/6/891

 

Might I suggest, dear Mr Dyer, some experiments on the "rusticité"2 of the Acacia penninervis there? We have now traced it to 5000' up the Alps, where snow falls for some months off and on each year. At all events this species is far more hardy than A. pycnantha and nearly as ornamental; and I verily believe, that a seedling raised in the temperate house to about 3' height, would become acclimated in Kew, if planted out in May and some little loose straw be shaken over it the first winter

Always with regardful remembrance your

Ferd. von Mueller.

 

You will receive by this mail cuttings of the almost arborescent and sub alpine Correa Lawrenciana (Hooker) in its crimson-flowering form.3 They are packed into slightly humid moss. It is a mere experiment; if that fails, no harm is done.

4Sendings of cuttings by me from here by post to upper India arrived there in a perfect state of vitality. If this mode of sending succeeds, a grand new means for interchanges of living plants is given.

If the Correa cuttings strike roots, will you kindly mention it in your valuable Bulletin?5

 

Acacia penninervis

Acacia pycnantha

Correa Lawrenciana

1
Date stamped: Royal Gardens Kew 29. Jul. 89. Annotated in red ink by Thiselton-Dyer: And 22. 9. 89 (letter not found).
2
hardiness.
3
You will … form is marked with a red pencil line in the margin. There is no entry in the Kew Inwards book recording the receipt of Correa cuttings from M in July or August 1889. There are, however, entries recording the receipt of seeds from him on 22 July (298, p. 202) and 10 August (417, p. 206).
4
The final two paragraphs are written in the margins on the front and back of the folio respectively.
5
Annotated in purple ink adjacent to the final paragraph : not to hand 22/9/89.

Please cite as “FVM-89-06-19b,” 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 23 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/89-06-19b