180 



ON BRACHYCHITON POPULNEO-ACERIFOLIUS F.v.M. 

 (The Crimson-flowered Kurra.tong). 



By J. H. Maiden, F.R.S., F.L.8. 



Allow me to invite your attention to a paper by the late 

 Baron von Mueller, " Notes on Hybridism in the genus Brachy- 

 chiton," in these Proceedings, ix., 379, 1884. 



I was present at the presentation of the paper, which was read 

 by the late Dr. J. C. Cox, who had drawn Mueller's attention to 

 the Mulgoa tree described. It was, and is growing at " Fern 

 Hill," his birthplace; and I remember asking him what was the 

 history of the tree, but he did not know it for certain, although 

 Mueller says it "arose" in his brother's garden ("Fern Hill"). 



When I took charge of the Botanic Gardens, my attention was 

 drawn to a smaller but similar tree then in the Garden Palace 

 Grounds, but the history of that tree was also uncertain. Some 

 years since, I visited the Mulgoa tree, and have a complete suite 

 of specimens. By means of the newspapers, I got into touch 

 with owners of similar or closely allied trees in various parts of 

 the State. 



Although Mueller did not publish a strictly formal descrip- 

 tion, he admitted, and I think rightly, as a matter of con- 

 venience, the species Bvachychiton populneo-acerifoluis F.v.M., 

 formally into the New South Wales flora (Second Census, 1889). 



The type (Mulgoa) tree was, in 1908, about 40 feet high, and 

 3 feet in diameter at a foot from the ground. Its spread of 

 brandies is fully 40 feet. The leaves are strictly simple; no ap- 

 pearance of lobes could be detected. The only Bvachychiton in 

 the vicinity is B. aceri/olius; there is some B. populneus in the 

 district, though not at Fern Hill. 



The rhachises in B. populneo-acerifolius are greenish-yellow to 

 creamy- white; and wholly scarlet, except in an occasional streak 

 or strip, in B. aceri/oliiis. 



