io6 Hart, Eiicalypts about Creswick and Chines. [vj"^xxxiv 



Candlebark occurs on the bluestone plains it is sometimes at 

 least on slopes where the soil would not be so long water-logged 

 in winter. 



E. riibida often accompanies Yellow Box in this district, 

 but, while they seem to like similar conditions of soil, the 

 Candlebark extends from these localities into higher and 

 moister parts of the district, the Yellow Box to lower and 

 warmer places. We find beyond Clunes the common associa- 

 tion of E. sideroxylon and E. polyanthenios, with the latter 

 more widely distributed. We might compare with the 

 occurrence of these species at Hurst's Bridge, where the Ironbark 

 is seen on the high and dry ridge near the station. There is 

 a marked contrast between the situations favoured most by 

 E. sideroxylon and E. leucoxylon, which is the more worth 

 attention on account of the confusion which has taken place 

 in these species. They may be found close together at the 

 margins of their respective habitats ; nevertheless, their typical 

 positions are different. 



E. sideroxylon begins near the summit of the hills south of 

 Talbot and north-west of Clunes, and extends north. Here 

 it prefers the north or sunny slope, few trees occurring on the 

 south, and then not far from the top of the hill. The soil 

 round it has often a barren aspect. This may also be noticed 

 in a more familiar locality in the Ironbark country close to the 

 railway west of Bacchus Marsh. 



E. leucoxylon prefers the lower parts of the hillsides and 

 places where the slopes meet the flatter ground, and places 

 where deeper soil is likely, occurring thus to the tops of some 

 of the hills. It extends to the volcanic plains, but does not 

 seem to like the worst of the wet places on the plains, which it 

 leaves, to the Red Gum. Where it is commonest on the plain 

 the soil is probably not purely volcanic. The ground about 

 the Yellow Gums is often well grassed. 



In Studley Park, Kew, the occurrence on the higher ground 

 is on well-soiled and often gently sloping land and on gravels. 

 It occurs on the steep slopes to the river and on the narrow 

 ridge above the Johnston-street bridge, but it must be 

 remembered that such a ridge is favourable to the deep 

 weathering of the rock, and that stones help to keep some 

 soils open. The rock below may be easily penetrable along 

 its cracks, and there may be a thoroughly good root-run and 

 quite sufficient power to hold moisture. It can be seen also 

 on a well-drained hillside south of Talbot, and is said to be 

 characteristic of rocky slopes below the highest levels of the 

 Mount Lofty Ranges. It is a tree of wide distribution in 

 South Australia. The highest levels at which I noticed E. 

 leucoxylon near Clunes would be not much over 1,150 feet ; 



