BY E. C. ANDREWS. 553 



Sandwich Islands (?) ; Tristania in Burmah, New Caledonia, 

 Malaya, Borneo, Banca Islands, and the Philippines; Syncarpia 

 in the Amboyne Islands; Cloezia in New Caledonia; Spermolepis 

 in New Caledonia ; and Piliocalyx in New Caledonia, one is rather 

 at a loss to which subtribe to ascribe the greater age From the 

 distribution alone it would seem, at first glance, that the Metrosi- 

 dereaa had the greater age, but when the Australian range of the 

 Euleptospermeae and of Bseckese, is also taken into considera- 

 tion, it seems advisable to assign a Cretaceous age for each, the one 

 working towards the tropics, the other acclimatising itself to more 

 southern and exposed conditions. 



Bceckea appears to be somewhat younger than Leptospermum 

 and Melaleuca, partly because of its more restricted range, and 

 partly by reason of its specialised structures. The distribution also 

 indicates the separation of New Zealand from Australia long 

 before that of New Caledonia, and the separation of Asia from 

 Australia at a later date than that of New Zealand. 



The separation of New Caledonia, from Australia, appears to 

 have taken place at a considerably later date, and New Caledonia 

 itself appears to be a mere residual of a much larger land-mass, 

 from a consideration of the number of genera endemic to it, such 

 as Cloezia, Piliocalyx, Spermolepis, and Nania. 



A consideration of Bseckeae and Euleptospermese strongly 

 suggests that the earlier types developed in a very poor soil, but in 

 a moist and mild climate, and that the more xerophytic types are 

 of decidedly younger age. In other words, the distribution sug- 

 gests that the subarid types are much later modifications of the 

 younger and less pauperate types. Nevertheless, the Euleptosper- 

 meaa are, on the whole, decidedly depauperate types as compared 

 with Metrosidereas. 



Eucalyptece. — This subtribe, which comprises the Eucalypts 

 and the Angophoras, appears to have descended through the earlier 

 types of the Metrosidereas, at a date later than the separation of 

 Australia from Asia, and of New Caledonia from Australia. No 

 undoubted Eucalypt has been recorded from New Zealand, Fiji, 

 New Caledonia, Borneo, Sumatra, or Asia. Several important 



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