The macadamia (genus Macadamia) nut was discovered by the European settlers, and subsequently the tree was named after him by his friend and colleague, Ferdinand von Mueller (1825-1896), Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. The tree gave his name to macadamia nuts. The genus Macadamia was first described scientifically in 1857 by Dr. Mueller and he named the new genus in honour of his friend Dr John Macadam. Mueller had done a great deal of taxonomy of the flora, naming innumerable genera but chose this "...a beautiful genus dedicated to John Macadam, M.D. the talented and deserving secretary of our institute."