["Beni."—The grasses you send, excepting one—Hordeum murinum—have no English name, as none of them is indigenous to England, but Baron von Mueller has favoured us with the systematic names by which they are known in science. (a) Pappophorum commune. (b) Panicum, too imperfect for specific naming. (c) Eragrostis concinna. (d) Erianthus fulvus. (e) Andropogon sericeus. (f) Aristida, without leaves. (g) Andropogon bombycinus. (h) Hordeum murinum. Except the British barley grass they are all perennial, and their value for pasturage is very considerable, with exception of the Aristida, which is objectionable on account of the bristlets of the spikes being apt to adhere to fleeces and hides. These grasses are all drought-resisting, and are fit to live in very dry and hot regions. The Barlee grass is more and more overrunning the inland runs also. It is a poor grass, and, as an annual, fails early in the season.]
Andropogon bombycinus
Andropogon sericeus
Aristida
Eragrostis concinna
Erianthus fulvus
Hordeum murinum
Panicum
Pappophorum commune
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'The Yeoman. Answers to correspondents', Australasian (Melbourne), 11 April 1896, p. 677. Assuming that the reply would be published in the next available issue in this weekly newspaper, it is dated to 3 April 1896 as the likely earliest date it would have been sent.
Please cite as “FVM-96-04-03a,” 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