History of the herbarium

Ferdinand Mueller arrived in South Australia in December 1847 with his sisters, Clara and Bertha. As the ship neared Port Adelaide, Mueller scooped this specimen of Sargassum distichum out of the sea, marking the start of his Australian botanical career.

The Governor of Port Philip Colony, Charles La Trobe, was a keen naturalist. He also wanted to better understand the economic potential of the Victorian environment and prioritised scientific appointments to serve the colony. Ferdinand Mueller was the third scientific officer to be appointed in Victoria after the colony’s independence from New South Wales in 1851.

Although he was employed by the government of Victoria, Mueller wanted to understand the flora of the whole continent. He collected about 25,000 specimens in Australia himself on day trips, short journeys, and major expeditions like Augustus Gregory’s North Australian Expedition.

More than 230 women were among the early citizen scientists who collected for Mueller. One particularly dedicated collector was Mary Harriet Bate (1855– 1861), who became an expert in the flora around Tilba Tilba in southern New South Wales. The Herbarium holds 360 specimens collected by her, including this specimen of Myoporum bateae, which was named after her.

Mueller received many hundreds of plant specimens from colonial exploring expeditions, including this specimen of Malva weinmanniana collected in Central Australia by Harry Tietkens (1844–1933) in 1889. Although the collectors of these specimens are listed as the European naturalists, most expeditions would have failed without the help of Aboriginal guides and translators.