J"iy.l Har-dy, Tall Trees of A iis/i'alia. 49 



191SJ 



the giant tree investigation up to that date appeared, the hst 

 being one referable to the plates in the album : — 



Species. Height. Girtli. Locality. 



I. Eucalyptus amygdalina 307 feet 22 ft. 8 in. measured Mt. Monda, Fernshaw, 52 



regnaiis 6 feet from ground miles from Melbourne 



II. Eucalyptus amj-gdalina 227 feet 55 ft. 7 in. measured Neerim Township Reserve, 



regiians (top broken 6 feet from ground 79 miles from Melbourne 

 off) 



III. Eucalyptus amygdalina 326 ft. 1 in. 25 ft. 7 in. measured Spur of Mt. Baw Baw, 



regnans 6 feet from ground Gippsland, 91 miles from 



Melbourne 



IV. Eucalyptus amygdalina 303 ft. 6 in. 25 it. 7 in. measured Stony Creek State Forest, 



regnans tt feet from ground Narbethong, 60 miles 



from Melbourne 

 V. Eucalyptus amvgdaUna 290 fe^t 32 feet measured Forest of the Otway 

 regnans " (top broken 6 feet from ground lianges, 113 miles from 



oft) Melbourne 



VI. Eucalyptus amygdalina .. .. .. ..Head of Sassafras Gully, 



regnans Dandenong Ranges, 29 



miles from Melbourne 

 VII. Eucalyptus amygdalina 219 ft. 9 in. 48 ft. 6 in. measured Sassafras Gully, Dandenong 

 regnans 6 feet from ground Ranges, 31 miles from 



Melbourne 



For extra- Victorian and non-botanical readers a short descrip- 

 tion of our giant tree par excellence may be given. The White 

 Mountain Ash, Eucalyptus regnans, F. v. M., is one of about 230 

 species of the genus, which, as most folk know, is a member 

 of the Myrtle family, and is therefore distantly related to the 

 Pomegranate (Punica), the Monkey Nut (Lecythis), and more 

 closely to Melaleuca, Calhstemon, Tristania, and Eugenia. 



The White Mountain Ash, often referred to in old publications 

 as E. amygdalina, but later as E. amygdalina var. regnans, 

 F. v. M., was raised to specific rank by Ferdinand von Mueller. 

 It is an evergreen tree, with a gently-tapering trunk,* though 

 old trees, especially in more exposed positions, often have 

 considerable short-length buttresses. The profile of an old, 

 buttressed eucalypt approaches the curve known as cissoid. 

 The tree is thin-skinned and susceptible to scorching by fire, 

 the greater portion of the trunk decorticating in long, thin 

 flakes or ribbons, which taper in thickness from one- 

 eighth or one-tenth of an inch to nothing where they run 

 off above, while about the base and often on the lower fifth, 

 fourth, or even third part of the trunk the rougher bark 

 persists. This butt bark may be an inch or so in thickness 

 just above the buttresses, and to this is due a vernacular 

 synonym, " Blackbutt," a name properly applied to E. 

 pilularis. The giant stem supports a comparatively scanty 

 canopy, which, even in old age, is not so ungraceful as that 

 of Sequoia. The leaves are stalked, flat, curved, lanceolate, 

 coriaceous, with pages equally green and shiny, and contain 

 an aromatic oil of a smell akin to peppermint. The flowers 



* I have measured five 20-foot logs from one tree, and found the middle 

 section to be of same diameter at both ends — cylindrical. 



