224 TUMOURS OF EUCALYPTS AND ANGOPHORAS, 



easily raised. A native goes to a water-tree, and tries the ground 

 at from 4 ft. to 5 ft. from the stem; or if guided by a 'bulge' or 



a 'crack,' finds the root at once" (p. 69) "Each such 



mallee tree has usually from four or five to seven or eight side- 

 roots running out from the stem at a few inches' depth from the 

 surface" (p.70). 



Plate xxii. shows a " Mallee-root." We do not know the 

 species, but it was one of the smaller ones, and may, perhaps, be 

 E, fruticetortim. It is not a particular!}- fine specimen, but it is 

 the only one we can get. In the absence of any published illus- 

 tration of the kind, as far as we know, we make no apology for 

 showing this one; as there is something to be learnt from it, as 

 there is from any undamaged "Mallee-root." The specimen was 

 placed on its side, and photographed from in front. The scale 

 is shown by the rule at the bottom. We interpret this to be a 

 case of a not quite completely encircling tumour, resulting from 

 one pair of stem-nodules which fused on one side (at the top of 

 the photo), but did not fuse on the other side; hence the breach 

 in the continuity of the tumour (at the bottom). There are four, 

 important, more or less horizontally running, lateral, water- 

 storing roots, two (at the top) coming off very close together; 

 and two others (below) at a fairly wide angle. They are almost 

 on the same level round the taptoot. The tumour, composed of 

 only one pair of nodules, was unable to encircle any of them 

 completely; but it fused with the upper part of all of them, 

 sufficiently, probably, to tap the water. The site of the seedling- 

 stem is indicated by the light spot, which represents the posterior 

 aperture of the hollow, flattened taproot, of which about six 

 inches are left. The site of one shoot is well shown, over the 

 lower lateral root on the right. The rest of the upper part of 

 the tumour was so badly smashed, that it is difficult to locate 

 exactly the situation of any other shoots that may have been 

 present; but, notwitlistanding the fact that the two upper roots 

 are very close together at their junctions with the taproot, we 

 believe that there was one over each of the other lateral roots. 

 It seems, to us^ a reasonable conclusion, that an uninjured, flour- 

 ishing Mallee will, as a rule, have as many shoots as there are 

 lateral, water-storing roots wholly or partially incorporated in 



