From Charles Moore 11 August 1858
Botanic Garden, | Sydney NSW
11 Augt 1858
Sir
In consequence of being in the country at the time of the last mails leaving Sydney, I was unable to forward you the information which I had promised to send by that means.1 I now however enclose a list of the British perennial plants, which have been known to mature perfect seeds in this Colony; this list is prepared from various sources, and I cannot therefore vouch for the whole—those that have come under my own observation are marked thus (x) and on these you may rely.2 I may state that my correspondents who have furnished me with lists for this communication, reside one at Goulbourn 120 miles south of Sydney, one at Bathurst about the same distance west of Sydney, and one at Brisbane Moreton Bay nearly six hundred miles north of Sydney, whe⟨re⟩ however it would appe⟨ar⟩ very few British plants seed freely, if at all You may judge of our Sydney climate by the following list of plants now growing opposite to my own door, and in full viguor and ha⟨ve⟩ been for some years past, viz: diag Latania Borbonica Opuntia Tuna Magnolia grandiflora
’ pumila Bignonia venusta. this has been in beautiful flower for the last month Quercus sessiliflora ⟨P⟩inus Halepensis ⟨C⟩ratægus oxyacantha Liriodendron tulipifera Jasminum fruticansramme and others of a similar description— While however these plants grow and flower well, others again will scarcely move, such as Tilia europæa, the Gooseberry, the Red and Black Currants, the Alder Beech &c Yet all these grow well in the Bathurst and Goulbourn climates—in fact the Gooseberry and Currants fruit as well in these districts, as in England. The plants which have become weeds in this climate are the Docks (Rumex) all the Sisymbriums, Nettles, Horehound, Thistles (Onopordum) Plantagos sweetbriar, Xanthium, Malva sylvestris, Medicago lupulina and the Sowthistles. I trust although I have been so long in replying to your request, that the information now forwarded will be of service.
I am | Sir | very obedtly Yours | Charles Moore To C. Darwin Esq | &c &c &c
NB None of the more northern europæan plants grow well about Sydney the merely exist for a time CM
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Summary
Encloses a list of British perennials which seed in New South Wales and explains the source of his information. Lists plants which have become weeds in the country.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-2322
- From
- Charles Moore
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Botanic Garden, Sydney
- Source of text
- DAR 171: 232
- Physical description
- ALS 5pp †, list 3pp ††
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 2322,” accessed on 26 November 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-2322.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 7