In early 1809 he read his paper called "On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae" to the Linnean Society of London. This was subsequently published in March 1810 as "On the Proteaceae of Jussieu". It is significant for its contribution to the systematics of Proteaceae, and to the floristics of Australia, and also for its application of palynology to systematics. This work was extensively plagiarised by Richard Anthony Salisbury, who had memorised much of the Linnean reading and then inserted it in Joseph Knight's 1809 publication "On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae".