474 EVOLUTION OF THE EUCALYPTS, 



E. striaticalyx, and E. Todtiana. Professor Ewart, of Melbourne, 

 kindly supplied E. Muelleriaiia; and Mr. R. H. Cainbage, E. 

 Moorei. 



The seeds were planted in boxes, in ordinary potting soil 

 consisting of a mixture of sand, leaf-mould, and loam; and were 

 covered with a mulch of tan-bark. Germination usually took 

 place at the end of a week, though often stray seedlings would 

 appear a week or fortnight later, especially if cool cloudy weather 

 succeeded hot sunny conditions. Sometimes seeds, though 

 known to be fresh and, therefore, supposedly fertile, failed to 

 germinate at all. In other cases, a few germinated, but chemical 

 and physical conditions seemed to be adverse, and it was impos- 

 sible to grow them to any size. Notable among these, were E. 

 Dawsoni, E. camphora, E. fastigata^ and E. dextropinea. In 

 other instances, the seed had been kept so long, that most, if not 

 all, the fertile seeds had perished. It must be remembered that 

 most of the Eucalypts have specialised in their liking for a 

 particular soil and certain climatic conditions for unknown ages, 

 and unless they can get these to their liking, they do not thrive. 

 September appears to be the best month in which to plant. 



2^he keeping qualities of Eucalyptus seeds in a dry state. 



This faculty is very marked in most of the species. The seeds 

 used in this research were all grown in the soil, but Professor 

 Ewart, of Melbourne, by soaking in water, then placing on filter 

 paper in glass dishes in a germinating chamber, had ^'^ % of 

 seeds of E. rostrata germinate after keeping 37 years, 1*2% of 

 E. leptopoda after 30 years, 11% of ^. diversicolor after 24 years, 

 and 9% of E. cor nuta aiter 22 years. With the exception of E. 

 calophylla, all these have small cotyledons, and E. leptopoda and 

 E. cornuta have deeply bifid ones. A great many of the seeds I 

 used were obtained from the specimen-cases of the Technological 

 Museum, Sydney, where they had lain, after falling from the fruit 

 on its drying, and dehiscence occurring. In many instances, 

 only a few seeds were procurable, and most of these may not 

 have been fertile in the first instance. If a large quantity of 

 seed was obtained and carefully preserved, I believe Eucalyptus 



