[Name of Plant. —J.R., Kellalac.1— Your specimen is, Baron von Mueller informs us, the Euphorbia Drummondi, which, like all its congeners, is very poisonous. Although the plant is so small, and it might seem that it could do little harm, it becomes dangerous in autumn when grasses and good herbage fail, while this Euphorbia resists any dryness, and thus gets prevalent enough to prove a deleterious pasturage. Where it grows in masses the ground should be scarified and sown with seeds of the Cocksfoot grass and any other strong perennial grasses, also with seeds of good pasture herbage, whether English or indigenous. The growth of these will overpower the tiny Euphorbia. As this plant is perennial it holds out continually.]
Euphorbia Drummondi
c. 10 km south of Warracknabeal, Vic.
Letter not found. The text given here is from 'Answers to correspondents', Leader (Melbourne), 23 May 1896. Assuming that the reply would be published in the next available issue, it is dated to 15 May 1896 as the earliest likely date that it would have been written.
Please cite as “FVM-96-05-15b,” 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