To William Thiselton-Dyer   19 August 1892

19/8/92¹

I am just preparing an inaugural adress for the Horticultural Students Society here, dear Dr Dyer, so that I can answer your kind letter only hurriedly, other extra-work devolving on me in the Department also just now. I thank you for the sympathetic words, offered by you² in my present departmental depression, and for the support official also you always give me, when occasion arises. Privately I may say, that your idea, to get support from the other colonies, could not be carried into effect, as I am already as a Victorian Officer, on whom the other colonies have no claim, often harrassed by parties beyond Victoria, and if I had any emoluments from their colonies, the demands and worry would still become greater and my time for original research still more be encroached on. Moreover each colony has now its separate Herbarium already of its own plants I have discontinued subscriptions to nearly all periodicals, even Just’s &c, but gladly keep the botanic Magazine³ on. Pray thank Sir Joseph for his genial interest in my fate.

Of course any novelties, which I successively elaborate, will also in future be sent representatively to Kew. I shall be very pleased to see the morphologically so remarkable Correa Baeuerleni figured by Prof Oliver.⁴ In such a celebrated Serial as the icones, any one seeing a plant of his displayed, must be proud. I have cuttings of it now growing, and shall manage ere long to get it across to Kew. After 30 years exertions I have managed to get seedlings of Verticordia oculata and V. grandis. When they are well established some shall go also to Kew. V. oculata is to my taste the most beautiful plant in its own delicacy of all Australia.

Kindly ask the excellent Mr Hemsley, to look once more through my 13 Decades of Acacias and Albizzias.⁵ As in each case the fruit is given, he will see, that on the form of fruit neither Pithecolobium nor Hansemannia can be maintained as genera, just as little as Tetracheilus.⁶ With regard to the consistence of the fruits, we must remember that the pithy legume of Vachellia counts not for a good genus, and that in Gleditschia (not far off in affinity) we have species with pulpy and dry fruit. After my 46 years of the study of 300 species of Acacias, my judgement — I thought — should have some weight. Of course, genera, unlike species, are not natural, so that no absolute rule for their limitation can be laid down. In Trimens Journal of Botany 1872⁷ I pointed out, that at all events the Pithecolobiums of the eastern hemisphere could not be kept apart from the Albizzias. The well known A. lophantha shows us, that the inflorescence does not help us so far for the genera, and we find quite similar variation of fruit-form in Acacia as in Albizzia incl. Pithecolobium.

I do not stand alone in uniting the two genera, as some recent authors followed me in this. In writing on the subject I do so, because the question came forward in the last Bulletin.⁸ Sooner or later, whatever fate these genera may have, their position will become more settled, but I now write to show, that the union was effected only after long and careful study on my part.

Archidendron was established⁹ when I knew only the species with numerous pistils, up to 15, as shown in the plate. ¹⁰ But when I subsequently ascertained in other species, that the number came down to 2, I gave up the genus. Excuse the frankness of my remarks, but I am thrown — so to say — on my defense.

Always regardfully

your

Ferd von Mueller.

Prosopis contains also species with succulent and dry fruits.

I have not responded to the invitation from Berlin to subscribe to the 4 theses, and to the rights of a list of genera; contrarily I pointed out to Prof Engler,¹¹ that the 4 passus¹² do not cover some still more important laws; — further that many of the genera, of which he and his collaborators acknowledge priority, cannot claim such, e.g. Salisbury & Knight’s genera of Proteaceae as RBr’s belong to 1809, not to 1810. This they could have seen in my Census.¹³ As RBr. read his famous essay on the Proteaceae in Jan 1809, before the L.S., he must have finished the whole in 1808.¹⁴

Private

Merely to show, how hopeless it would be, to work a Central Herbarium on the expenses of the several Australian Colonies, I instance the case of the Eucalyptography. Before I entered for Victoria alone on so costly a work, I applied to more than one of the neighbouring colonies for aid, but the result of a lengthened correspondence was none! They purchase some few copies perhaps and use the work for the sake of their own trees, without probably ever thinking of the sacrifices made for it by my Department. However I did not apply to the other Governments direct, as the preliminary enquiries were not encouraging from among the colonists most interested.

Mr Fitzgerald, who death we just so much deplore,¹⁵ had also no financial aid in his splendid "Australian Orchids"¹⁶ from the other colonies. If I accepted any financial help, even if obtainable from the other colonies, I might — to speak figuratively — "be torn to pieces["]¹⁷ by inordinate claims raised. Therefore I accepted during the 40 years of my official service never a single fee nor a single present, though perhaps not a day elapsed, except on occasional travels, when I had not to write professional information beyond Victoria! The Work on the fungs of Australian Fungs¹⁸ mainly arose under the hope that it would help to combat the extensive mycetous diseases in our warm clime and under other exceptional circumstances concerning which I need not write, as this subject is not one out of which much acknowledgement to me will arise.

Any how Dr Cooke had a substantial and disinterested support from me for many years.

Private.

The bot Garden has still after retrenchment £8000 or £9000 irrespective of heavy extra-expenses for Water-supply, the large Observatory Vote is also but slightly reduced, and Sir Fred. MacCoy¹⁹ has still £400 a year for his decades of chromolithography.²⁰

Can the doubts about the true Pittosporum ferrugineum Aiton be finally settled?²¹

Albizzia lophantha

Archidendron

Correa Baeuerleni

Gleditschia

Hansemannia

Pithecolobium

Pittosporum ferrugineum

Prosopis

Proteaceae

Tetracheilus

Vachellia

Verticordia grandis

Verticordia oculata