332 BOTANY OF THE INTERIOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 



localities it is generally found on the highest land, and in this 

 way seems to push out further than would be the case if the 

 country were all plains. In many cases towards its western or 

 lower area it may be found growing in company with E. Woolls- 

 iana, and the two trees resemble each other considerably through 

 both having bark of two colours, a grey box-bark on the trunk 

 and clean whitish limbs, the latter colour very often coming down 

 in both species on the upper part of the trunk. In outward 

 appearance the resemblance ceases here, as E. hemiphloia, var. 

 albens, has much larger fruits and broader leaves, which are 

 generally pale and covered with a white powder, giving the trees 

 in many cases a silvery appearance. E. Woollsimia, on the other 

 hand, has dark green leaves, and in contrast to E. hemiphloia, 

 var. alheiis, the White Box, is often called Black Box. On the 

 western slopes of the Great Dividing Range, approximately from 

 Mudgee southward into Victoria E. hemiphloia, var. albens, is 

 seldom found growing at an altitude exceeding 2,000 feet above 

 sea-level, and Occupies only that part of the elevated country 

 which is not subject to regular heavy falls of snow; or its eastern 

 margin indicates the western edge of our regular mountain 

 snowstorms. A few miles east of that line snow may be expected 

 nearly every winter, while a few miles west of it some winters may 

 pass without any snow falling there. In July, 1900, a severe 

 fall extended many miles into the White Box country, and being 

 most unusual, the branches of the trees were broken by the 

 weight of the snow much more than is the case with those species 

 growing in higher localities where heavy falls are regular. In 

 going from Sydney across the Blue Mountains, the western plants 

 proper need not be expected till trees of E. hemiphloia, var. albens, 

 are found ; after that there is a possibility of a distinct change in 

 the flora at any time, so that this Eucalypt occupies an interesting 

 position between the mountain and the plain. In geological 

 formation it seems to slightly prefer igneous to sedimentary, being 

 common on granite, porphyry and diorite, but when growing on 

 sedimentary, such as Silurian or Devonian, it generally avoids the 

 rocky situations, and grows chiefly on the alluvial formed by the 

 wearing of surrounding hills, and may be termed an open forest 



