A fatal poisoning case has just been reported from the Darling River,1 through T. egena. A woman thinking that this leafless plant must have similar medicinal properties to that of the English Broom-bush, prepared an infusion of the Templetonia, one cupful of which produced death within an hour! Considering that this genus is in its affinities not so very remote from that of Gastrolobium and some other Australian simple-leaved leguminous shrubs, the discovery of lethal effects in Templetonia does not come very unexpectedly. As T. retusa is much cultivated in conservatories of Europe as an ornamental shrub, material exists also there for testing it as regards any deleterious properties; should such exist, then the poison principles might be isolated even in Europe, where now so many phytochemic laboratories exist with ample special appliances.
Gastrolobium
Templetonia egena
Templetonia retusa
NSW.
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Poisonous properties in the genus Templetonia', Gardeners' chronicle, 2 July 1892, p. 16 (B92.07.02). It is introduced by 'Baron von Mueller writes:—'. The letter is dated to May as the latest likely date that it could have been sent to have been printed in this issue. See also M to O. Tepper, 13 May 1892.
Please cite as “FVM-92-05-00a,” 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