Colonial Botanists Office
Queensland.
Department of Agriculture,
William Street
Brisbane, June 19th 1890
Dear Baron Mueller
I was glad to receive your letter this morning1 I was just thinking of sending you a specimen of a remarkable tree from the Johnstone River2 to which I purposed attaching your name Canarium Muelleri. It was sent to me by Dr Mr T. Bancroft3 when I was collecting woods for the colonial and Indian Exhibition4 and I did not use the log for at the time only receiving shoots in buds I thought better to wait for fruit, this or fully developed flowers I have not been able to get to publish from the material to hand, the tree exudes a large quantity of a liquid of the consistency of honey with a strong turpentine odour. I am having it analysed to see if it is like Black Dammar the product of C. strictum, or it probably is nearer to the substance obtained from C. commune
Yours very truly
F. M. Bailey
I enclose specimens of Scleria ustulata. The plant the first of which I sent you some years ago (Bancroft Johnstone River) under No 20 is I find your Apodytes brachystylis In my catalogue5 now in the printers hands I will give description of fruit I have tephrosia polyzyga 20 m from Charters Towers Croton tomentosum6 70 m from Cape York Peninsula and a new Millettia — (M. pilipes) from the Johnstone River, this was sent to you by me three years ago —
I have a fragment from the north of the Melhania abyssinica A. Rich. but whether indigenous or naturalised I cannot as yet say but think the latter
F.M.B.
Apodytes brachystylis
Canarium commune
Canarium Muelleri
Canarium strictum
Croton tementosum
Melhania abyssinica
Millettia pilipes
Scleria ustulata
Tephrosia polyzyga
Letter not found; probably the item summarized as 'for specimens', entered by Bailey on 20 June 1890 in his register of letters received (Herbarium Department, letters & packets received, Queensland Herbarium, Brisbane).
All places named by Bailey are in Qld.
Thomas L. Bancroft.
Colonial and Indian Exhibition, London, 1886.
Bailey (1890a).
C. tomentosus? However, this species is not known from Australia (P. Forster (2003)).
MS found with a specimen of Canarium muelleri (MEL 2290905). MS annotation by M: 'Answ 25/6/90'. Letter not found. Bailey's letter probably accompanied the item, 'Packet of spms asked for', registered by him on 20 June 1890 as having been sent (Herbarium Department, letters & packets despatched, Queensland Herbarium, Brisbane).
Please cite as “FVM-90-06-19,” 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