May I ask you the following question: Western Australia is poor in ferns, lichens, mosses, and fungi, on account of the dryness of the climate, and those kinds of plants occur but very scantily even in the Northern territories, notwithstanding the greater humidity there. But this paucity is made up for by the richness of your extra tropic coasts in Algae (seaweeds), though those also are not numerous on your intra-tropic shores. Can you suggest how I might obtain supplies, merely dried crudely and crisply, from various parts of your coast to trace still further their geographical distributation1 I also want very much during this spring, to obtain minute land plants from any part or region of Western Australia, and freshwater weeds. Perhaps, in the scientific interest of your large colony, some local journal would render my wishes known.2
distribution?
The extract is followed by
We trust that any of our readers who are in a position to assist the great scientist in the simple manner proposed in this letter, will do so. We shall be happy to receive any communications on the subject, and to cause any specimens sent to us to be duly forwarded to Baron Müller.
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'West Australian plants: letter from Baron Von Mueller', Daily news (Perth, WA), 27 April 1896, p. 3 (B96.04.08). It is introduced by the following, which provides the basis for dating M's letter to earlier in April 1896:
A letter from Baron Ferdinand von Mueller has just been received by a gentleman in Perth, who has asked us to give publicity to the request therein expressed by the celebrated botanist. We are pleased to give a verbatim quotation of the Baron's words:—.
Although M's use of 'this spring' might suggest a later date, there are other letters certainly from April or May 1896 with similar requests where M is looking ahead, for example in May 1896 he is known to have written to a correspondent in Wilcannia NSW, seeking 'floating and submerged weeds, pressed and dried, also the minutest land plants, such as the Spring brings out' (quoted in M to W. Brown, April 1896, in this edition as 96-04-00).
It is not known whether the 'gentleman in Perth' is the same correspondent who received M to a gentleman in Perth, August 1895 (in this edition as 95-08-00f).
Please cite as “FVM-96-04-00d,” 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