332 BOTANICAL NOTES ON QUEENSLAND, 



it on the Herbert River and on the Barron. But at Herberton 

 and on the tableland it is not uncommon. 



E. platyphylla, E.v.M. This gum tree begins to appear about 

 Bockhampton and soon is the prevailing tree, on the poor dry 

 sandy land of the tropics. Its distinguishing character is the 

 great width of the leaves and the conspicuous cream-coloured, 

 smooth bark. Unlike most of the gum trees the bark of which 

 does not split, the deciduous portions soon fall off, so that there 

 are none of those strips and ribbons or dark crests of bark which 

 are so characteristic of the Australian bush. The bark is smooth 

 or slightly wrinkled and of bright colour. Thus the tree is 

 always conspicuous, and when the open forest is composed of it 

 as it is between Townsville and the tableland, the eifect of the 

 masses of white trunks is very striking. It is never a tall tree, 

 nor is the trunk thick ; the branches are usually straggling and 

 not stained with exudations of gum. The size of the young 

 leaves is astonishing, I have measured on young shoots leaves 18 

 inches long and 15 across. Most Eucalypts have some peculiarity 

 in the young state. In this case the leaves are not placed at 

 right angles to the stem, but are very much larger than in any 

 other Eucalypt of the east coast. It grows on the poorest sandy 

 soil and does not seem to require much moisture, though doubtless, 

 being in the tropics it gets a good deal more than it would be 

 likely to receive in more temperate portions of Australia. The 

 wood is very inferior, and not much used even for burning. As 

 it grows well on very poor soil it would be worth while to try it 

 in cooler colonies for the sake of its shade. 



JE. licBmastoma, Sm. I do not know whether I am right m my 

 determination of this tree, and I have been exceedingly unfortu- 

 nate with my specimens, not one of which were preserved for 

 comparison. I wish to specify it, because next to E.platyphylla 

 it is the most common in all open forests and poor soils from 

 Moreton Bay to Cape Flattery. It may occur to the Bouth of 

 Moreton Bay, but I have not had an opportunity of examining, 



