Of Weeds and Other Introduced Species: Ferdinand Mueller and Plant and Animal Acclimatisation in Colonial Victoria

2007·3.4 MB·English

by  Linden Gillbank

BiodiversitySymposium
Ofweeds and other introduced species:
Ferdinand Mueller and plant and animal
acclimatisation in colonial Victoria
Linden Gillbank
HistoryandPhilosophyofScienceDepartment,TheUniversityofMelbourne,3010
Email:[email protected]
Abstract
Prompted by nostalgia and economic hopes, but withoutan ecological understanding ofthe world,
Ferdinand Muellerand other Europeans sought to ‘improve’ the ColonyofVictoria by introducing
useful and attractive species. As Government Botanist (1853-96), Mueller introduced an enormous
diversity offoreign plants for cultivation and naturalization, and, while Director ofMelbourne’s
Botanic Garden (1857-73), tested theircolonial viability. From 1858 to 1861 Muellerwas the hon-
orary secretary ofa management committee for a collection ofbirds and animals resident in the
Botanic Garden; and, forthe followingtwelveyears, vice-president ofa society which grew out of
thatcommittee-the Acclimatisation Society ofVictoria, which was devoted to the introduction of
species with economic and aesthetic appeal. Even after losing the Botanic Garden, Muellercontin-
ued to publicise and popularise the introduction ofdesirable plants, meanwhile providing weed
informationandadvice.(TheVictorianNaturalist124(2),2007,69-78)
Introduction
At a time of confident geographic, eco- landscapes, the human manipulation of
nomic and scientific understanding ofthe these landscapes over many millennia and
world’s flora and fauna, Europeans intro- their evolution across unimaginable eras
duced ‘new’ animals and plants into the remained unseen. Europeans saw peculiar
BritishcolonyofVictoria. plants and animals which challenged their
In the nineteenth century, Europeans concepts and taxonomic systems. They
depended on natural products to satisfy also saw the young antipodean colony of
their needs, and saw the world as a collec- Victoria as sadly deficient in useful and
tion ofcontinents, islandsand seasharbour- attractive creatures, and rose to the laud-
ing the plants and animals which would able challenge to ‘improve’ it with intro-
provide their foods, medicines, fibres and ductions ofthe world’s floral and faunal
timbers. Europeans explored and exploited treasures. And they harboured a gnawing
the world. Theypilfered aremarkable array nostalgia for the sights and sounds of
oforganisms, and developed and refined ‘home’. Furthermore, as waves ofjob-
taxonomic systems to classify them. They seeking immigrants left depleted gold-
established colonial botanical gardens to fields in the late 1850s, Victoria’s govern-
trial the cultivation ofplantswith economic ment and swollen populace were anxious
potential, often in regions with climates to find new industries. What ‘new’ animal
very different from that ofthe imperial or plant could graze or grow in the grow-
power. AsEuropeantastesandtechnologies ing colony? A scientific society, the
expanded to value and process an increas- Philosophical Institute ofVictoria, and the
ingdiversityofthe world’s floraand fauna, Government Botanist and sometime
oceans were criss-crossed with shiploads of BotanicGarden Directorwouldhelp.
species destined fornew landscapes. Bythe
mid-nineteenth century ataxonomic system Plants
providedauniversal lexicon ofplantnames Dr Ferdinand (later Baron von) Mueller
and a frameworkwithin which new species was Victoria’s Government Botanist for
could be established, and the term ‘habitat’ most ofthe second halfofthe nineteenth
was understood in theproto-ecological con- century - from 1853 until his death in
textofphytogeography. 1896. From 1857 until hisdirectorship was
When post-Enlightenment European abolished in 1873, he was also, with no
minds met post-Gondwanan Australian additional salary. Director ofMelbourne’s
Vol. 124 (2) 2007 69
Biodiversitysymposium
Botanic Garden. Jubaea, the Nicau, the northern Sabals, the
Dr Mueller soon expressed his optimistic Date, the Chinese Fan-palms, and Rhapis
vision for Victoria’s future prospects, con- flabelliformis, be associated with our
cluding his second annual report as [Livistona] Palm in a glorious picture? Or
Government Botanist that, with 'the seren- turning to still more utilitarian objects,
est climate’, ‘no praise too high’ could be would not the Cork tree, the Red Cedar, the
bestowed ‘on the productiveness of our Camphortree, the Walnuts and Hickories of
adopted country’. North America, grow in these rich, humid
We possess in the Southern hemisphere, dales, with very much greater celerity than
what the Ancients in the Northern called even with all our tending in less genial
“regiones felices,”thosehappy latitudesofa spots?Couldnot,of400coniferoustreesand
warm temperate zone, in which Nature with 300 sorts ofoaks, nearly every one be natu-
a prodigal hand offered prominently, amidst ralised in these ranges, and thus deals
so many other gifts, the Cerealia, the Olive, [planks], selecttanningmaterial,cork, pitch,
and the Vine, and to which we there have turpentine, and many other products, be
addedfromthefarEast,theOrange,theTea; gained farmore readily therethan elsewhere
from India, the Rice; and from the New inVictoria,fromsourcesrenderedourown?
World, the Maize, Cassava, Arrowroot, He affirmedthat
Tobacco, and so many othertreasures ofthe ofabout 10,000 kindsoftrees, which proba-
vegetable world, on which mankind now bly constitute the forests ofthe globe, at
relyforluxuryandsupport. Allthesemaybe least 3000 would live and thrive in these
here successfully produced alongwith those mountainsofours; manyofthemdestinedto
which we enjoyed in the country ofour live through centuries, perhaps not a few
youth, and will, I trust, with the mighty through twiceathousand years, asgreathis-
resources ofour mineral wealth, render this toricmonuments(Mueller 1871b: 60-1).
countryone ofthe most delightful and pros- A month after his August 1857 appoint-
Aspehroeuslaotfertheexpgllaoibene(dM:ueller 1854: 7). ment as Director of Melbourne's Botanic
Garden, Dr Mueller addressed Victoria’s
In all zones, except the most icy, mankind
respected Philosophical Institute on the
dependsonplantsforitsprincipalwants. For
subject ofdesirable plant introductions. In
our sustenance, clothing, dwellings, or uten-
sils; forourmeansoftransit, whetherby sea response to numerous inquiries, he wished
‘to draw attention to some ofthe most use-
or land; indeed, for all our daily require-
ments. we have to draw the material largely ful plantsdeservingeitherintroduction into
- and often solely - from the vegetable this country or a wider diffusion through-
out our territory’, and discussed an enor-
wToorlrde.nd.e..r, therefore, these vegetable trea- mous number of trees and other plants
from the subtropical and colder girdles of
sures accessible to our fullest benefit, not
only locally but universally, musteverbean the globe. Since ‘a large proportion ofour
object ofthe deepest significance (Mueller population is returning gradually from a
migratory life [gold-seeking] to the firm
1871b: 58).
Muellerdevotedmuch ofhisworkinglife abodes of settled communities,’ he sug-
to encouraging and facilitating the intro- gested that ‘the time has arrived, when our
duction ofthe world’s vegetable treasures thoughts should bedirected, notonlytothe
means ofourpresent, butalso ofourfuture
into Victoria, presenting his ideas about
desirable plants in lectures and reports. In prosperity’ (Mueller 1858a: 93).
The Botanic Garden was an essential
a public lecture in 1870, he described his
species-enriched vision splendid of accessory forthe Government Botanist. He
Victoria’s mountain valleys: needed it to test the ability of plants to
Might not the true Tulip tree, and the large grow in Victoria, and to propagate plants
and collect seeds fordistribution acrossthe
Magnolias ofthe Mississippi and Himalaya,
towerfarovertheFerntreesofthesevalleys, Colony. Mueller’s first annual report as
and widely overshade our arborescent Government Botanist records the Garden’s
Labiatae? Might not the Andine Wax Palm, importance ‘for the experimental introduc-
tion of foreign plants into our adopted
the Wettinias, the Gingerbread Palm, the
70 The Victorian Naturalist
.
Biodiversitysymposium
country’ (Mueller 1853: 7). The German- Pythagorean Bean, many medicinal plants,
bom discipline ofphytogeography, which &c(Mueller 1858b: 7).
sought explanations for the climatic shap- These and other useful plants are among
ing ofthe world’s vegetation, underpinned the 3300 species listed inthe ‘Catalogueof
Mueller’s understanding of the essential plants under cultivation in the Melbourne
role ofa botanic garden as a place to test- Botanic Garden’ which Mueller appended
cultivateplantsfrom similarclimaticzones to his 1858 report.
(Jeffries 1997), and led hint to seek During his sixteen years as Director,
(unsuccessfully) experimental gardens in Mueller oversaw the cultivation ofmany
otherclimatic regionsofVictoria(Homeet thousands ofplant species in Melbourne’s
al. 2002: 333-4, 405, 628). His first report BotanicGarden. Hisaimwas always
as Director of the Botanic Garden to give precedence to utilitarian andindus-
concludes: trial culture, while less attention was
whenitisconsideredthatunderthemildness bestowed on mereornamental cultivation ..
ofourclimatewemaychoose fromtheend- Ikepttherequirementsofayoungcountryin
lessnumberofplantsofthewholetemperate view, where the extensive distribution of
and subtropical zone, and that even many new industrial plants, such as Cork Oaks,
from the warmestparts ofthe globe may be American nut trees, Assam and Chinese tea
acclimatized in our latitudes, it will then be &c, is needed far in preference to the
needlessto show howwidea field is left for ephemerous show offlorist flowers (Home
ourprogress, andwe maytrustthatmanyof etal2002: 517).
the future introductions into ourGarden will Inthe 1860svisitors tothe Botanic Garden
not be withoutpractical valuetothe Colony could see all sorts ofmedicinal, food and
(Mueller 1857: 8). fibre plants, and, in the Garden and the
Mueller’s annual reports include long lists adjacent Government House Reserve,
ofseedandplantdonors, thirtybotanic gar- enjoy the umbrageous beauty of avenues
dens and over 150 individual donors being and plantations ofan impressive diversity
recorded for 1860(Mueller 1861: 3-4). ofconiferous anddeciduoustimbertrees.
Mueller sought all manner of useful
Animals
plants to test their suitability for colonial
cultivation ornaturalization. Someofthose Under Mueller the Botanic Garden con-
he mentioned in his substantial tained more than plants. Initially there
Philosophical Institute paper were already were birds on the lagoon and in the shrub-
growing in the Botanic Garden. His annual bery (Mueller 1857: 8). Then an aviary
report for 1858 records the following was added, prompted by an Institute talk
by Edward Wilson, gentleman farmer and
eclecticcollection:
co-ownerandretirededitorofMelbourne’s
various Spice plants, the Tallow tree, the
newspaper. TheArgus.
Nettletreeoflllawarra, the DesertClianthus
(which was figured as a notable flower In April 1857, Wilson discussed his
orchestration ofthe transfer ofthe Murray
aSlirreaTdhyobmyasCapMti.tcDhaemlpli,ert)h,etLhietcBhoittltereter,eethoef Cod to the Yarra River - his own small
Cherimoir, the Banyan tree, the tall Pampas correction ofthe ‘unequal and even eccen-
tric’ distribution ofNature’s creatures.
grass, the prolific Prairie Festuca, the edible
Flovenia, the Gunyang, the Staranis, the ‘With a virgin country, an Italian climate,
Paraguay and Chinese Tea, the Camphor and British institutions to lend force and
intelligence to our endeavours’, Wilson
tree, the Tulip tree, Waratah, Bananas, the
American Sarsaparilla, the Cork tree, the (1857a: 24) shared Mueller’s hopes for
Giant Pine ofCalifornia, the Cochineal vast and varied economic and aesthetic
Cactus, the Chinese Grass-cloth plant, the improvements, andpointedoutthat
Australian and Indian Rotang, the Coffee Natureseems to have been lavish in thesup-
tree, the Cotton plant (which now without ply of her various gifts, but singularly
protection occasionally ripens its pods), the capricious in their adjustment; or rather she
Red Cedar, the Kaurie Pines from East hasproperlyandkindly lefttomantheinter-
Australia, Polynesia, andNewZealand, Bog esting and agreeable task ofsupplementing
Bean, Acorus, Nelumbium or Sacred her own efforts, ofdiscovering by experi-
Vol. 124 (2) 2007 71
Biodiversity’symposium
mentandtheaction ofhisown intellecthow ond wing was added during 1859, ‘the
farthegiftitselfmaybemultiplied,extended whole dry and shady space below the
andimproved(Wilson 1857a:25). bridge thereby becoming available as a
In a subsequent Institute paper on the secluded spot for brooding birds’ (Mueller
introduction ofsuchwelcome British song- 1860a: 3). Unfortunately a trial sanctioned
birds as canaries, skylarks and nightin- by the Institute's Committee ‘to naturalize
gales. Wilson (1857b: 86) explained that foreign singing birds, by setting them at
he had ‘no idea of living in a half-fur- libertyin ourshrubberies’ wasnot success-
nished country’. His talk prompted the for- ful. Gradually,
mation of the Institute’s Song Bird although well provided with food, the num-
Committee (which included Wilson) to ber ofthe liberated birds decreased, and at
consider future symphonic introductions. last they entirely disappeared. In an attempt
Following Mueller’s recommendation, the to naturalize the more hardy thrushes [from
Committee’s request for government funds Wilson], we may anticipate to be more suc-
for the erection ofan aviary in the Botanic cessful, particularly ifat the proper season,
Garden was successful (Maroske and the birds are at once transferred to suitable
Gilfedder 1994). Meanwhile, Wilson spots intheforestranges,orperhapstosome
became a founding committee-member of oftheislands(Mueller 1860a: 8).
the new Zoological Society of Victoria, Although many birds suffered badly dur-
which was established in October 1857, ing the long sea voyage to Melbourne,
and sailed for England, where he began ornithological expectations and experi-
orchestrating the transmission ofbirds to ments continued. During 1860 many pairs
Melbourne. were liberated ‘near the Yarra Bend
Early aviary residents included canaries, Asylum, on Phillip Island, Sandstone
goldfinches, chaffinches, siskins, linnets, Island, and Churchill Island’, as well as in
Java sparrows, nightingales, skylarks, the Botanic Garden, or ‘distributed to gen-
blackbirds, thrushes, Manilla doves, par- tlemen who had constructed aviaries suffi-
tridges, larks, starlings, hedge sparrows, ciently spacious and secure to render the
Fiji pigeons, ring doves, ortolans, Ceylon prospect of the increase of these birds
doves, turtledoves - many sent by Edward ratherhopeful’ (Mueller 1861: 9).
Wilson (Maroske and Gilfedder 1994). Meanwhile the Philosophical Institute
The purpose was more than display. Birds agreed to hand over its incoming birds to
were to be liberated in the Botanic Garden theyoungZoological Society,which,with-
and beyond. In September 1858 Mueller out promised government funds, was
informed the Philosophical Institute that unable to develop its own rather swampy
‘the birds are mostly prospering, and there grounds on the northern (Richmond) side
are many young canaries’. With a view to ofthe Yarra River, leaving its small, but
setting loose a large number ofbirds for growing, menagerie accommodated in the
naturalisation, he besought Institute mem- aviary and an enclosure in the Botanic
bers and their friends for donations of Garden on the other side of the Yarra.
female goldfinches and linnets, and also Ferdinand Mueller and Frederick McCoy,
thrushes, blackbirds and nightingales Professor of Natural Science at
(Philosophical InstituteofVictoria 1858). Melbourne’s young University, were two
Mueller reported that the aviary (Fig. 1), ofthe four government nominees on the
which had ‘become very attractive to the committee established in mid-1858 to
public’,was ‘placed inthe denseshrubbery manage the impecunious Society’s crea-
ofthe valley between the rustic bridge and tures - the Zoological Gardens
the lake, in orderthatthe sight and song of Management Committee, which received
the birds maybe fullyenjoyedwithoutdis- the £3,000 earlier promised to the
turbing them’. It housed a large number of Zoological Society (Gillbank 1996a;
birds ‘entrusted to our care by the 1996b). As the Committee’s Honorary
Philosophical] Institute, with a view of Secretary from 1858 to 1861, Dr Mueller
effecting the domiciliation ofthe young sought useful animals and, as Botanic
birds in our garden, and thereby gradually Garden Director, continued to seek, grow
a general distribution offoreign song birds anddistributeusefulplants.
over Australia’ (Mueller 1858b: 4). A sec-
72 The Victorian Naturalist
Biodiversitysymposium
the desert game of
Southern Africa yet
roam in lively sport
throughout our inland
solitudes, and render
them more hos-
pitable, perhaps
betraying to the wea-
ried wanderer, by
their path, the water-
pool on which his life
depends? Might not
the camel’s track
across the continent
guide with their
flocks the harbingers
Fig. 1.TheaviaryinMelbourne’sBotanicGarden,photographedbyEd ofnew colonizationto
Haighin 1861. PictureCollection,StateLibraryofVictoria. theoasesofourinland
When the Zoological Society’s land was wastes ... (Mueller 1860b:3)?
incorporated into the Botanic Garden, Government funds allowed the
Mueller could sign his annual report as Zoological Committee to acquire expen-
Government Botanist and Director ofthe sive animals. At great government
Botanic and Zoological Garden. By 1860 expense, two dozen camels arrived in
the mainly donated exotic faunal residents 1860, and in August set off from Royal
included llamas. Angora goats, fat-tail Park with Burke and Wills and the rest of
sheep, elk, fallow deer, Sumatra deer, the Royal Society’s over-encumbered
Ceylon deer, four species ofmonkey and expedition to cross the continent -just as
English squirrels, as well as various water- Royal Park was being considered as an
birds and songbirds (Mueller 1861: 10). alternative site for a menagerie (Gillbank
The arrival of46 thrushes and llamas (in a 1996b).
mixed llama-alpaca flock) from Edward Fresh from participating in the establish-
Wilson, prompted Muellertoreportthat ment ofan English acclimatisation society,
the disinterested zeal, the circumspect care, the eagerly-awaited Edward Wilson
and patient perseverance ofthat gentleman, returned late in 1860 to a Melbourne well-
for the introduction ofthe treasures ofthe set for acclimatisation, and quickly became
animal kingdom into this country, cannot a member of the Zoological Gardens
receive a sufficiently high eulogium. To his Management Committee, which was now
exertions, supported by some friends ofthe the provisional committee ofa new society
colonies in Britain, we owe principally the dedicated to something much grander than
donation ofour llama-alpaca flock (Mueller meremenagerie management-acclimatisa-
1860a: 8). tion. The Acclimatisation Society of
In his presidential address to the Victoria was the third such society in the
Philosophical Institute (almost Royal world, and, likethe English society, echoed
Society) ofVictoria, Mueller (1860b: 5) theaimsandaspirationsoftheearlier-estab-
commended Edward Wilson’s zoological lished Frenchsociety(Gillbank 1986).
zeal, and expressed his own continuing
The Acclimatisation Society of Victoria
highhopes:
(ASV)
Mightnotthevegetabletreasuresfromevery
Melbourne’s new society echoed the hopes
zone,exceptthetorrid,beflourishingaround
us,ministeringtoournecessarywantsandto and aspirations ofresident Europeans. It
ourluxuriousenjoyment? Mightnotthepas- would seek to satisfy their economic and
turesofoursilentAlps, mightnotourgrass- nostalgic desires by orchestrating the intro-
less forest-ranges, like the Andes or the duction ofplants and animals ofuse and
pleasure. Arising on a wave ofenthusiasm
Himalayan mountains, yet be enlivened by
the alpaca orthe Cashmere goat? Might not for animal and plant acclimatisation, itwas
anorganisation trulyofitstime, and sought
Vol. 124 (2) 2007 73
Biodiversitysymposium
to complete the work which Nature had The ASV tried to please everyone. For
apparently left incomplete in Australia. It thepastoralist it offered the alpaca. Angora
hadhigh idealsand hugehopes. and Cashmere goat; for the sportsman
The Acclimatisation Society of Victoria deer, elk. hare, quail and variousducks; for
(ASV) was formally established ata public the angler salmon, trout, carp and other
meeting presided over by Victoria’sgover- fish; and for the agriculturalist, such sup-
nor, Sir Henry Barkly, on 25"' February posedly grub-eating birds as the thrush,
1861. With Henry Barkly as Patron and blackbird, starling, sparrow and Common
Edward Wilson President, Ferdinand (Indian) Myna.
Mueller was Vice-President, a position he Professor Frederick McCoy, delivered
held from 1861 to 1872. The ASV attract- the ASV’s first anniversary address in
ed members, and funding and land from a November 1862, explaining that acclimati-
government willing to continue supporting sationwas
the zoological enterprise. Angora goats, the bringingtogetherinanyonecountrythe
Chinese sheep, llamas and alpacas were various useful or ornamental animals of
transferred to the patch ofRoyal Park per- other countries having the same or nearlv
manently reserved forzoological purposes, the same climate andgeneral conditions of
to become the nucleus ofthe ASV’s zoo- surface(McCoy1862:36).
logical collection, leaving birds singing in He had a gastronomic slant on biodiversi-
the aviary and swimming on the lagoon in ty, and particularlyvaluedthosecud-chew-
the Botanic Garden. To the dismay of ing, hooved quadrupeds, the ruminants,
many Melbournians, the main purpose of which include sheep,goats, cattle, deerand
the ASV’s zoological gardens was not the antelopes. Explainingtheirmeat-producing
display of animals. Instead they were a importance. Professor McCoy revealed the
staging depot where sea-weary animals ‘extraordinary’ factthat
could rest and hopefully breed, while while Nature has so abundantly furnished
awaiting transfer to a rural property or lib- forth the natural larder ofevery other simi-
eration in the wild (Gillbank 1996a; larlysituatedcountryonthefaceoftheearth
1996b). withagreatvariety, and a profusion ofindi-
With its council including scientists, doc- viduals ofruminants good for food, not one
tors, lawyers, newspapermen and wealthy single creature of the kind inhabits
farmers and pastoralists, the ASV exuded Australia!
influence; and sister societies were estab- Furthermore,
lished in other Australasian colonies IfAustraliahad beencolonisedbyanyofthe
(Gillbank 1986). In its first annual report, lazy nations ofthe earth, this nakedness of
the ASV Council expressed gratitude for the land would have been indeed an oppres-
‘the liberality ofthe Legislature’ and con- sivemisfortune, but Englishmen loveagood
fidence that continuing government sup- piece ofvoluntary hard work, and you will
portwouldresultin all, I am sure, rejoicewith methat thisgreat
the aggrandisement ofthe colony, and the piece ofnature’sworkhas been leftto us to
multiplication ofits industrial resources, do(McCoy 1862:39).
while its attractions as a place ofresidence He mentioned arrangements for the acqui-
will be materiallyenhancedwhen itoffersto sition ofthe highly-prized eland and other
the lover ofnature and the sportsman the South African antelopes, and the anticipat-
same sourcesofpastimeandenjoymentwith ed arrival ofa flock ofthe valuable ‘pure
which he was familiar in the country from Cashmere-shawl goat, from Thibet’, pur-
which he emigrated ... .No country in the chasedbytheASV
world is so favourably circumstanced for withthe intention offormingagreatherdon
acclimatisation purposes as Victoria, and it some ofthe highest mountains ofGipps
is within the power of its inhabitants to Land which retain snow sufficiently long to
enrich it by stocking its broad territory with produce the temperature necessary for
the choicestproducts oftheanimal kingdom preservation ofthe finest qualities ofthe
borrowed from every temperate region on woolandhair’(McCoy 1862:50).
the face ofthe globe (Acclimatisation In the 1860s Professor McCoy helped the
SocietyofVictoria 1862:9). ASV introduce the Cashmere goat and two
74 The Victorian Naturalist
Biodiversitysymposium
other creatures from India - the Arrindy (Mueller 1876: iii). Seeking a wider audi-
silkworm and the Indian Myna. While Dr ence for this important information, he
Mueller continued to distribute white mul- gained ministerial approval for a depart-
berry trees, which the ASV hoped would mental publication - his 293-page book.
eventually support a silk industry, the Selectplants readily eligiblefor industrial
introduction of the Arrindy silkworm, culture or naturalisation in Victoria, with
which lives on the castor oil plant, was indications oftheir native countries and
unsuccessful. TheASVhadthe supposedly some oftheir uses (1876), in which he
grub-consuming Indian Myna and other sought to bring together ‘some condensed
‘precious’ introduced birds given legal notes in popular language on all the princi-
protection from shooting (by listing them pal utilitarianplantshithertoknowntopros-
under Victoria’s game act). Farmers, how- per in extra-tropic zones’ (Mueller 1876:
ever, did notappreciatetheirfruit-consum- iii). Since the information was relevant to
ing propensities, and, despite McCoy’s other temperate parts ofthe world, Mueller
continuing praise oftheir grub-eradication removed ‘Victoria’ fromthetitle and added
value, the ASV decided not to oppose the ‘extra-tropical’, and edited and enlarged it
removal ofsparrows and mynas from leg- for NSW, Indian, American, German,
islative protection in 1871 (Gillbank French and Victorian editions in the 1880s.
2001 The 1885 Victorian edition ofSelectextra-
).
By then public criticism of Melbourne’s tropicalplants contains 466 pages ofinfor-
Botanic and Zoological Gardens was esca- mation about useful alien and Australian
lating. The Botanic Garden was not beauti- plants. Not surprisingly, it does not include
ful enough. The ASV’s menagerie was not thistlesandotheracknowledgedweeds.
exciting enough. In apublic lecture in 1871 Weeds
Mueller discussed the importance of a
Mueller was affronted by the accusation
gbroetaatneisctgpaorssdiebnleinnburmibnegrinogftsoegleetchterpla‘nthtes tChearttahienlhyadCaipnterwoedeucdedArwceteodtsheicnatocVailcetnodruilaa.
from all the differentparts oftheglobe’ and (= Cryptostemma calendulaceum) was a
their scientific, geographic and economic glaringly obvious problem in the Botanic
display. By ‘the introduction ofnovel utili- Garden, but Mueller pointed out that, on
teaxrtieanndesdp,ecoiresn,ewlocraelsoiunrdcuesstrtioesbearoerigtionabte- heisstaabrlriisvhaledinar1o8u5n2d, iMtewlabsouarlnreead(yMawriodsekley
ei1ds8’a7,t2iaao:nndo6)fp.upbBllauintctstihnaitnsedrweastthsegiaerpnpperaroradetunectdtlsyinn(toMhtueewluhtliaeltr- r2the0ac0to5.g:niS1s7ie8nd)c.aesAnahedVihchetaodkrinae‘nrwwepteheeaadttelitdonhlgaydbebbfeeoeernne
the public wanted. Just as Baron Ferdinand accused ofhaving brought this and other
von Muellerwas being ousted from his too
(scCioenhtnifiacnadndMainrsotrsukcetive19B9o6t)a,nitcheGaArdSeVn w1e0)edrse’poirntteodthtehatCotlhoensye,aMsuseerltlieorns(1w8e6r9e:
acknowledged its zoo-keeping role and ‘1c8o3n3t,raBrayrtoonfVacotsn, Haunedgethlatnoatlirecaeddy,anidn
became the Zoological and Acclimatisation
Society ofVictoriaand began seekingmore rmeicnoarbdleedwtheeedcroyfptAoussttreamlmiaa’a.sIannainpeuxbtleirc-
interesting animals for its Zoological
lecture, he mentioned the ‘Cape Weed, for
GaNredveensr.theless the Society published the presence ofwhich I am not responsi-
Mueller’s papers on timbertrees and other ble,as ithadalready irrepressively invaded
some parts ofAustralia as early as 1833’
plants ‘readily eligible forVictorian indus- (Mueller 1872a: 29). Before moving to
ntraitailvecuclotuunrter,iewsitahndinsdoimceatoifontsheoirfutsheesi’r Victoria, Mueller had observed and col-
(wMhuieclhlehre1p8r7e1paa,re1d87‘2wbit,h1a87v4i,ew18o7f5,pr1o8m7o8t)-, hleicstehderitbainriSuomuthspAeucstirmaelinas, irtescocrodimnmgoonn
ing the introduction and diffusion ofthe occurrence round Adelaide in 1848 (Kloot
very many kinds ofplants, which in our 1983: 112).
geographical latitudes may be extensively Mueller was aware ofweeds as soon as
reared in forests, on fields or pasture’ he arrived in Australia. While collecting
and documenting the South Australian
Vol. 124 (2) 2007 75
Biodiversitysymposium
flora, he recognised familiar plants prolif- of life’ (Home et al. 2002: 590-591).
erating in disturbed areas round Adelaide Mueller was aware that Wireweed (some-
and in rural fanning areas - plants which, times called Knot Weed), docks and other
unlike Capeweed (from South Africa), weeds were spreading but. because their
were well-known weeds in Europe (Kloot seedswereneitheras readilywind-dispersed
1983, 1987). Victoria’s National asthistle-down noras readilytransported by
Herbarium (MEL) holds specimens of stock as the Bathurst Burr, he would not
weeds Muellercollected in variousparts of seek their inclusion under the Act ‘unless
South Australia in the late 1840s, some of many other troublesome weeds, such as the
which include annotations such as ‘on Burr Clover Medicago denticulata the
roads, waste places and cultivated land South European Star Thistle Centau,rea
around Adelaide’ for Wireweed Melitensis, Cryptostemma calendulaceum
Polygonumaviculare(Kloot 1983: 1 18). and manyotherweeds,werealsoincluded in
When South Australia’s ThistleAct 1851 theoperations ofthe act’ (Homeetal. 2002:
was passed, Mueller estimated that about 592). Mueller's suggestion for the addition
100 plant species (from Europe and the of weeds ‘deemed by the Government
Cape of Good Hope) had become natu- Botanistassufficientlynoxioustobeoperat-
ralised ‘beyond the possibility ofextirpa- ed against in conformity with this act’
tion’ in South Australia (Kloot 1983: 98). (Home et al 2002: 591), was echoed in the
Aimed at preventing the further spread of 1891 Act, which allowed plants to be pro-
plants commonly known as the Scotch claimed ‘thistles’ without requiring an
Thistle, the Act covered purple-flowered amendment(Parsons 1973: 14).
thistles, but not the true Scotch Thistle, To facilitate recognition and understand-
which was not common in South Australia ing of plants whose destruction was
(Kloot 1987: 88). required under the Thistle Act, Mueller
Victoria’s Thistle Bill was passed in 1856, (1893) prepared an illustrated booklet on
whileMuellerwasawayonaBritishexpedi- thenine species
tion across northern Australia. ‘An Act to • CarduusMarianus SpottedThistle
makeprovision fortheeradication ofcertain • Carduuslanceolatus SpearThistle
thistle plants and the Bathurst Burr’ (1856) • OnopordonAcanthium ScotchThistle
covered four purple-flowered thistles well- •Xanthiumspinosum Bathurst Burr
known in Europe-SpottedThistle,Carduus • Carduusarvensis Perennial Thistle
Marianus, Sacred Thistle, Carduus • Carduuspycnocephalus ShoreThistle
Benedictus, Spear Thistle Carduus • CentaureaCalcitrapaStarThistle
Lanceolatus, and Scotch Thistle Onopordon • Centaurea Melitensis MaltaThistle
Acanthium, - and the Bathurst Burr •Kentrophyllumlanatum SaffronThistle
Xanthium Spinosum, from South America All are listed in Mueller’s ‘Plants, hither-
(Parsons 1973: 14). In 1861 Muellerwarned to immigrated and naturalized in Victoria,
that ‘unless the growth of the thistles with indications of their nativity and
becomes methodically checked, their num- English popular names’ in his Key to the
ber will year after year be vastly increasing system ofVictorianplants (1888). Mueller
until it may finally [be] almost beyond pos- did not include their descriptions because
sibility to arrest the progress of these most ofthe 171 listed naturalized aliens,
weeds’, and advised that the Thistle Act being widely distributed in Europe, were
should be rigorously enforced on private described in publications on the British
landandtendersshouldbehiredtodeal with flora, which were readily available in
weedsonCrown land(Maroske2005: 176). Victoria. The list also includes other
When amendments to Victoria’s 1865 weeds, such as Capeweed, Arctotheca cal-
Thistle Prevention Statute were being con- endula Knot-Weed Polygonum aviculare
sidered, Mueller recommended the removal Burr-Clover, Medicagodenticulataand the
ofthe Holy or Sacred Thistle, which had docks Rumex crispus and Rumex conglom-
‘neverbeen really abundant’ and had ‘lately eratus.
almost disappeared’, and the addition ofthe Not all the listed naturalised aliens were
troublesome Creeping or Perennial Thistle undesirable weeds. Mueller (1885)
Carduus arvensis, ‘on account ofits creep- described over a quarter of them in his
ingperennial root, which is very tenacious Select extra-tropicalplants, readily eligi-
76 The Victorian Naturalist
Biodiversitysymposium
blefor industrialculture ornaturalization account of its wide-creeping roots’; Wild
,
including Chamomile, Parsley, Chicory, OatsAvenafatua is ‘hardto exterminate in
Samphire, Artichoke, Fennel, Lettuce, grain-fields, where it sometimes proves
Horehound, Alfalfa or Lucerne, Penny- quite troublesome’; Penny-royal Mentha
royal, Tree-Tobacco, Parsnip, Castor Oil Pulegium is ‘To be avoided on pastures, as
Plant, Rosemary, Salad Burnet, Salsify, not readily repressed’; and Gorse or Furze
Gorse or Furze, Vetch and various clovers Ulex Europaeus is ‘Too apt to stray as a
and grasses. The entry for Horehound hedge plant’. Entries for 26 species in the
Marrubium vulgare includes good and bad 9,h edition include some indication that the
attributes - ‘in many countries quite a plantwas a potential weed (Maroske 2005:
weed ... its naturalization can nowhere be Appendix U). Balancing the usefulness of
unwelcome, as it does not unduly spread plants with their possible weediness was
The plant accommodates readily to any noteasy.
...
forlorn waste land’ (Mueller 1885: 209). It
In retrospect
w1a8s50csulatnidva1te8d60isn t(hMeueBloltearni1c85G8abr,deMnarionstkhee In an era when acclimatisation was an
extremely popular exercise in what today
pers. com.).
might be called biological globalisation,
So were various apparently not-yet-natu-
Mueller and other well-intentioned
ralised species ofRubus including several
types of blackberry. T,he nine species Europeans introduced into Victoria all
recorded in the Botanic Garden in 1858 sorts of useful plants and animals from
include Rubusfruticosus, the ordinary climatically similarpartsoftheworld.
Bramble or Blackberry-bush (Mueller With the wisdom of hindsight we may
1858b: 25). The ‘British Blackberry,which smile dismissively at those responsible for
proves to be remarkably prolific,’ was such unsuitable past introductions as the
among the numerous plants distributed to wfohxi,cshpawrerokw,noCwapheawveeedbeacnodmbelaicnkvbaesrirvye,
p6)u.blIinc 1in8s6t0ituMtuieonlsleirn (11886611:(M5u)elwleelrc1o8m6e2d: weeds and pests. Many such introductions
havebeen environmentally disastrous. But,
the addition ofthe Canadian Blackberry
Rubus Canadensis to the Botanic Garden with ideas and technologies unavailable to
ecologically-unaware 19th century acclima-
and ‘scatteredthe seeds ofthe large-fruited
Canada blackberry along the alpine tises, we should be careful of slick con-
springs’ on the Baw Baw plateau, later demnations ofactions and aspirations ofso
longago.
lleiasrhneidngonthtathe‘trhiivsuldeetlsicoiofusthafrtuimtoiusntesatianb’- No-one today would want to introduce
(Mueller 1871c: 38). In 1870 he told his something like the Bumble Bee. Or would
they?
audience ‘Disseminate the Strawberries of
the countries ofour childhood, naturalise Acknowledgements
the Blackberry of northern forest moors’ I thankSara Maroskeand HelenCohn forinfor-
(Mueller 1871b: 72). In the mid-1890s mation and comments; and Jill Thurlow in
Rubusfruticosus was not one ofVictoria’s Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens libraryand
over 200 acknowledged naturalised plants Leanne McCredden in the University of
Melbourne library forhelp with Mueller’s pub-
(Anon 1893), and Mueller continued to lished papers and various editions ofhis Select
claim that it ‘deserves to be naturalised on extra-tropicalplants. Species names are those
the rivulets of any ranges’ in his Select usedinthereferencescited.
extra-tropicalplants(1895).
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desirable species increased the size ofsuc- annualreport.(Wilson&Mackinnon:Melbourne)
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GiGlalrbdaenknsL.(V2ic0t0o1r)iaAnniHimsatloraicccallimJaotuirsnaatlio6n7:,M8c3-C1o0y2.and ntioolnosgiocftuhseeisr.naAtninvueaclouRnterpioerst,aonfdthseomAeccolifmtahteiirsatteicohn-
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KlBooottanPicMGar(d1e9n8s7)6,T9h3e-1n3a1turalised flora ofSouth wthietihrinudsiecsa’tioPnrsoocfetehdeiirngnastiovefctohuentZroieosloagnidcsaolmaenodf
A1u0s,t8r1a-li1a1.1.JournaloftheAdelaideBotanic Gardens MuAeclclleirmaFti(s1a8t7i4o)nSAodcdiiettiyonosftVoictthoerilaist1s:2o4f9t-h4e28p.rincipal
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Mc6C1o.AyusFtr(a1l8i6a2n)GAaccrldiemnatHiissattoiroyn,6,it7s-n1a5t.ureandapplic- MuAeclclleimratFis(a1t8i7o6n)SoSceileetcytopflVaincttsorriaea4d,i4l5y-7el1igiblefor
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MutehleleLergiFsl(a1t8i6v0eaA)ssAenmnbulayl1R8e5p8o-r9t2o(fNot.he1G7)overnment Paursseosn.s(WGovTer(1n9m7e3n)tNPorxinitoeurs:MweelebdosuorfneV)ictoria.(Inkata
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(No. 19)
Received28September 2006; accepted 7December
Mueller F (1862) Report ofthe Government Botanist 2006
78 The Victorian Naturalist