["Box 165"— Baron von Mueller recognises the specimen you forwarded as a species of Saponaria, not unlike the common soap-wort (S. officinalis), but the flowers are dark and not quite smooth. In the absence of root and ripe fruit it cannot be positively determined whether a distinct species or variety.]
Saponaria officinilis
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Answers to correspondents', Australasian (Melbourne), 29 February 1986, p. 395. Assuming that the item would have appeared in the first available issue after receipt, it is dated to 21 February 1895 as the earliest it could have been written.
Please cite as “FVM-96-02-21b,” 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