[Good old Baron Von Mueller wants readers of The Bulletin on outlying stations, especially about the Riverina, to know that he would be grateful for any minute flowers, plants, grasses, weeds they will send him. They can send any number of these in a big envelope, and should anyone discover a new species, the finder will be named in the Baron's European edition of his Select Plants.2 Here are opportunities for fame going begging! His reason for a public appeal is that the present is a wet spring and favourable for the growth of tiny plants. The venerable botanist, who has waited long for such a season, doesn't want to die until he has finished his book to his complete satisfaction. His proper address is Arnold-street, South Yarra, Melbourne, though he gets letters from the far west of America addressed simply Australia.]
Letter not found. The text given here is from the Bulletin (Sydney), 29 August 1896, p. 11. The item was reprinted in Barrier miner (Broken Hill, NSW), 2 September 1896, p. 3.
No new edition was published, in Australia or elsewhere, after 1895, although a translation was later published in Portugal, B05.13.01. The Bulletin probably misunderstood why M was seeking the plants in question, which would be unlikely candidates for inclusion in a future edition of the Select Plants. In other letters at this period, M indicated that he was seeking specimens in connection with the preparation of the third edition of his Census, which he intended to publish in 1897; see M to T. Hart, 16 August 1896; M to E. Bickford, 23 August 1896; and M to the West Australian, September 1896 (in this edition as 96-09-00e).
Please cite as “FVM-96-08-00e,” 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