90/3/13
By this mail, dear Dr Beccari, I have posted to you the only specimen of an only palm, received from Sir William Macgregor among the dried plants, gathered by his Excellency on his tour up the Fly-River1 Will you be so kind, to send a few fragments back for the Government Herbarium here, after you have examined the species
Three iron cylinders, filled with methylized alcohol, and sent for collecting purposes by me, will be this week emptied of the botanic specimens, contained therein. Should palms be among them they will be also sent to you
You will have received my essay on Governor Macgregors alpine or high lands plants some months ago.2
Regardfully your
Ferd. von Mueller
Beccari (1908), p. 494, gives the habitat of Calamus macgregorii as 'British New Guinea, where discovered on the Fly River in 1890 by Sir William Macgregor' [i.e., MacGregor]. The monograph was intended for Malesia, but the subsidy towards the publication of this was withdrawn by the Istituto di Studi Superiori of Florence (Beccari (1908), p. i). There is a specimen of this species in Florence (Fl 014296) labelled in M's hand 'Calamus | Fly-River | 1890 Sir W. Macgregor' on a 'Phytologic Museum of Melbourne' label. However, Florence also has a specimen of Rhopaloblaste macgregorii (Fl 014015), also with a 'Phytologic Museum of Melbourne' label in M's hand 'Fly -River | 1890 Sir W. Macgregor'. A second sheet of this latter species (Fl 014014) has the same collecting details in another hand. R. macgregorii is listed by Martelli (1935), p. 81, as 'MS in Herb. Palm. Nova Guinea'. It is thus not possible to determine from the specimens which was sent with this letter.
B89.13.11.
Please cite as “FVM-90-03-13,” 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