[[1]]*1
H.M.S. Erebus. Berkeley Sound.
Falkland Isl[an]ds April 27th 1842.
My dear Sir [George Bentham]
So very long a time has elapsed since the receipt of your most kind letter in Hobart
Town, that I feel quite ashamed of myself, especially when I think what attention you
paid to me during my stay in London; you will however forgive my culpable
negligence, & such as it is receive this token of repentance & I hope of amendment.
My first collections did not I know give any satisfaction at all, & so the less I say
about them the better, but there were one or two curious Leguminosae from the hills
of the Cape de Verds [Cabo Verde]. Indeed whenever I see Leguminosae I think of
you & your collections, though now since leaving Australia I have only seen these
species in New Zealand. Though, through Gunn's collections you may know the Van
Diemen's Land [Tasmania] ones, you may possibly be interested in reading what
little I can imperfectly communicate about their Geographical distribution, & the
habitats of the more remarkable ones in that Island.
The badge of Tasmania is the Wattle (silver) the Acacia mollissima ? a most
beautiful tree forming a feature in almost every landscape, & a very distinct species,
it grows often on a very poor soil, forming
[[2]] a low small wood of a pale silvery green, blossoming in the spring when the
profusion & abundance of the flowers sheds a delicious fragrance like that of the
Spiraea ulmaria, it ascends Mt Wellington for 3500 f[ee]t assuming an entirely
different habit in the dense forests, where it is drawn up into a very long slender
beautifully taper[sic] & straight trunk for 80 or 90 feet, spreading out a few branches
into a low horizontally flat heart; in these trees the leaves are if anything less silvery
than in its ordinary form but the difference is scarcely perceptible; the wood is not
generally esteemed though our single[?] boats davits are made of it & have proved
most excellent. The Acacia decurrens is quite as common on the low grounds but
far less beautiful, it is called the black wattle, from the dingy look of the tree, & the
color[sic] of the bark, which is often covered over with a black fungus, its blossoms
are very pale, it is a better companion of the settler than the silver wattle for the latter
often runs over the pastures in the form of a low bush, sending long runners under
the turf which are eradicated with the greatest difficulty. The A. verticillata is also
very common on the low grounds & very troublesome from pricking the hands & face
& tearing the clothes. The only subalpine species I
[[3]] know of is a small straggling one gathered at the falls of the Derwent where it
was very scarce. Of the other species I can add little to the information in the
"Companion". Next to the Eucalypti I think they hold the second place in abundance,
both of species of timber[?], & for the space of ground they cover. Except that none
are Alpine they inhabit all other parts of the Island, wet & especially dry; this is
however the case with the whole family, for there are no representatives of the
Astragali & Oxytropics of Northern Europe on the mountains of Van Diemen's Land.
Amongst the scrub which covers the sandy plains Leguminosae are still more
abundant, & make the otherwise desert country look green & gay with blossoms of
all colors[sic], amongst them the Daviesias form a large proportion, together, with the
small acacia stricta, myrtifolia &c Bossiceas[?], Platylobia & the beautiful Indigofera
australis, whilst the charming little Kinnedya [Kennedia] prostrata creeps along the
ground. These again are interspersed with various Compositae & Epacrideae which
like the Cape Heaths bear flowers of all colors[sic] but blue.
In New Zealand the Edwardsia [Sophora] is the most common leguminous plants,
generally fringing the banks of the rivers above the limits of the Mangrove swamps.
It is a small tree flowering in the spring before the leaves are fully developed, when
its golden pendant racemes of large flowers are very conspicuous amongst
[[4]] the darker foliage of the Coranocarpi [Corynocarpi?] & Myrtaceae; in November
it is full of leaf & then resembles an Acacia & has a soft appearance, though not
copiously leafy. Of the other Banksian species I know nothing. The Carmichaelia is
a slender twiggy shrub often inhabiting salt water marshes, on the banks that abut on
them, though pretty, its flowers are too small to attract attention. In a collection of
New Zealand plants which I inspected in Sydney I saw another & very distinct
species, brought from the interior by a Mr Bidwel[l], & which will doubtless be found
by Colenso, or rather has been during his late tour to the Southward. But the pride
of these Islands is the noble Clianthus puniceus which is very scarce, truly wild,
though the natives have sown its seeds in several places especially near the
taboed[sic] countries, Colenso took me to one of its habitats on a small Island about
12 miles from the settlement at the Bay, where it grew in profusion on a dry slope of
a clay hill; it consisted of little bushes, 3 feet high, rather leafy, but the leaves much
eaten by a caterpillar, & covered with a profusion of vivid red blossoms, I have
preserved many excellent specimens both of it, & the Edwardsia -- Of the
Guillendina [Guilandina] Bonduc I know nothing. Leguminosae certainly form no part
of an Antarctic Flora, for they are neither found in the Auckland group, Campbells
Isl[an]d,
[[5]] Kerguelen's Land, or the Falklands, although together they must contain
upwards of 300 species of flowering plants.
Of the vegetation of Kerguelen's Land my father has doubtless told you what little
information I sent to him, it is in forms peculiarly South American, though several of
its plants are common both to the Auckland group yet more are to the Falkland
Isl[an]ds. A few are peculiar amongst them, a genus near Bolax, the Cabbage, a few
grasses, & an Amaranthaceous plant, the other genera are Ranunculus, Leptinella, a
new genus near Bulliarda, others in Portul[ac]aceae,Haloragaceae,
Scrophulariaceae, Car[y]ophyllea ? & an Acaena & Galium. The lower orders are in
a large proportion of Ferns, a Stegania, & 2 Lycopodia, many mosses, more Lichens
& Seaweeds, one Fungus. The only strictly Antarctic plant is the Macrocystis
pyrifera which floats alive in the water & increases there like the San jago weed,
hundreds of miles from any land, 64 South is the highest Latitude in which I have
seen it, & I doubt not but that it will prove to be the most Antarctic plant known, for it
is utterly impossible that any plant even a Lichen could inhabit such land as we have
seen.
The Botany of the Auckland group is very interesting, being perhaps more South
American
[[6]] than New Zealand, combining indeed those two countries with the Antarctic
Flora, & perhaps Van Diemen's Land. The increased proportion of
Monocotyledones[sic] to Dicot[yledons] from the preponderance of Gramineae is
very striking, & will I suspect form a good rule by which to judge of the rigour of the
several climates, when they will as far as materials can prove come in the order of,
first the Aucklands, Falklands, Campbells Isl[an]d, Prince Edwards & Crozets group
?? Kerguelen's Land, the South Georgias, South Shetlands, & finally Lat 64 S. in the
Longitude where the Macrocystis was seen. The Botany of this place interests me
much, for I have found a good many plants undescribed in D[e]. C[andolle]. after the
publication of Durville[']s & Gaudichand[']s lists. The monocotyledones[sic] are next
to the musci my favorites[sic], & of them I have about 40 species, including 17
Graminea & Carices, several other Cyperaceae & the curious Guinardia australis,
which seem to me the type of a most distinct natural order. The extraordinary
number of Ferns in Isl[an]ds of an equable temperature is also remarkable here,
though not in number of species, but a Lycopodium & little Stegania cover the
ground in many places in profusion. Compositae are in a large proportion, as are
Umbellifera of which I have a new Hydrocotyli
[[7]] which is extremely rare; & another most singular plant with simple long
cylindrical, fleshy and tubular leaves.
Though my collections will not be large I sincerely hope that amongst them there
may be some worthy of a place in your herbarium, which I hope may never again be
in such peril as it lately was, I quite feel for your trouble & perhaps loss on that
occasion. My Father will tell you all about the Expedition of which I am sick of
writing. I often think of you in your Autumn excursions with Mrs Bentham, & whom I
beg of you to present my kindest compliments. It will indeed be a great pleasure to
me to see you once again in England, & could I but believe that you could find as
much pleasure in reading this scrawl as I have had in writing it I would ere long
trouble you again. In the mean time
Believe me y[ou]r truly obliged & affect[ionate] friend | Jos. D Hooker
To G. Bentham Esq
Ponticlas[?] House
Hereford
[[8]] *2 To G. Bentham Esqre
rec[eive]d July 8th
ENDNOTES
1. This letter is a contemporary 19th century copy, not written in the hand of the
original author Joseph Dalton Hooker, and not signed by him. The copy was
probably made by Hooker's Mother or one of his sisters to be circulated amongst
family and friends.
2. The wording from here to the end of the letter appears to be written in another
hand, and is written vertically down the right hand side of the page.
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