Overview
This issue marks the birth bicentenary of one of our greatest botanists, Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller (30 June 1825–10 October 1896). The German-trained Mueller arrived in the colonies in 1847, first settling in Adelaide before moving to Melbourne in 1851, initially with the intention of working as a chemist.
Mueller soon began describing and acquiring specimens of the flora of the south-east of the continent and in 1853 was appointed government botanist for Victoria by lieutenant-governor Charles La Trobe, a position he held until his death. The same year, Mueller established the National Herbarium of Victoria, today the oldest scientific institution in the state. He acquired more than half the current collection of 1.4 million specimens.
Mueller was an inveterate explorer and travelled throughout the continent collecting specimens. He identified many botanical species new to western science, including the Macadamia tree, which he named after his fellow scientist Dr John Macadam. Mueller was active in scientific circles and was the president of the Philosophical Institute, which in 1859 became the Royal Society of Victoria.
In 1857 Mueller was appointed the first director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, a position he held until 1873. He ran the Gardens with a strong scientifc and educational emphasis, greatly enlarging the collection of plants. In total, Mueller named more than 2,000 plant species and published more than 800 scientific articles and books, including the seven-volume Flora Australiensis with George Bentham. Among his many honours were being named a Baron in 1871 by the King of Württemberg and a British knighthood in 1879. Baron Ferdinand von Mueller died on 10 October 1896 and was buried at the St Kilda Cemetery, Melbourne.
Technical specifications
- Issue date
- 5 August 2025
- Issue withdrawal date
- 1 March 2026
- Denomination
- 2 × $1.70
- Stamp & product design
- Jason Watts, Australia Post Design Studio
- Paper: gummed
- Tullis Russell 104gsm Red Phosphor/Blue PVA Stamp Paper
- Printer: gummed
- RA Printing
- Printing process
- Offset lithography
- Stamp size (mm)
- 26 x 37.5
- Minisheet size (mm)
- 135 x 80
- Perforations
- 14.6 x 13.86
- Sheet layout
- Module of 50 (2 x 25)
- FDI postmark
- Melbourne Vic 3000
- FDI withdrawal date
- 3 September 2025
$1.70
Mueller and the old National Herbarium, Melbourne
The stamp depicts a photographic portrait of Ferdinand von Mueller from 1864, at the time he was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne.
The Old National Herbarium is also shown. Built in 1860, the small bluestone building was located in the Domain. Mueller made it into the finest herbarium in Australia. It closed in 1934, when philanthropist Macpherson Robertson funded a new building in the south-west corner of the Botanic Gardens to honour the centenary of Melbourne.
The plant shown is the Kunzea muelleri, endemic to the mountainous areas of south-eastern Australia. It was first formally described in 1867 by English botanist George Bentham from a specimen collected by Ferdinand von Mueller, who is it named after.
$1.70
National Herbarium of Victoria
The stamp shows the current National Herbarium of Victoria, located in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens. Depicted is the 1989 extension to the 1934 building.
The map, which dates from 1865, shows the Botanic Garden and its Domain indicating the principal plantations, drawn under the direction of Mueller.
Gentianella muelleriana or Mueller’s Snow Gentian, is an alpine or subalpine plant named in honour of Ferdinand von Mueller.
