19/10/92
It was very kind of you, dear Miss Henly, to send the very acceptable lot of plants for the vernal exhibition; all the more acknowledgment is due to you, as you went personally out, and as the weather was against you. The climber, of which you sent a sprig, is Clematis aristata.
As regards rearing plants of North Queensland in your locality, the difficulty is not to raise them from seeds, but to protect them in the cool season. I would advise to put chinese baskets or some other rough coverings over them during frosty nights, or for some few months in the coolest weather loosely some hay.
If you have the plants in pots, then — of course — you can take them into a warmed room during cool weather or in frosty hours.
Kindly let your young friends bring you all sorts of floating plants, should opportunity offer there.
Could you add to your many favors by writing to any Ladies, whom your brother met, in N. Queensland,1 to dry all sorts of plants for me in exchange for seeds of kitchen vegetables.
Regardfully your
Ferd. von Mueller.
Clematis aristata
Sydney Henley was at Martin's Creek, near Cloncurry, Qld.
Please cite as “FVM-92-10-19,” 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