716 BOTANY OF THE INTERIOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES, 



red. It is fairly plentiful between the Macquarie and Murrum- 

 bidgee Rivers, occurring in patches, and shows a decided 

 preference for a sedimentary formation. The timber is used 

 freely for railway sleepers, and although it is considered one of 

 the finest woods of the west, it is not to be compared for general 

 use with E. particulate/,, Sm., the Grey or White Ironbark of the 

 coast. The wood of the latter tree is tough, while that of the 

 western one is comparatively dry and brittle. 



In view of the prominence given to the question of hybridiza- 

 tion of Eucalypts by Messrs. Deane and Maiden in the Proc. Linn. 

 Society, Vol. xxv. p. Ill, where they deal with E. affinis which 

 grows among E. sideroxylon and E. albens, also with another tree 

 growing among E. siderophloia and E. hemiphloia at Homebush 

 and Liverpool, it occurred to me that if cross-fertilization exists 

 between the above trees, the same sort of thing may take place 

 in other species, notably between E. sideroxylon and the western 

 box tree recently described by Mr. R. T. Baker as E. Woollsiana. 

 Knowing that I should meet with these two species growing 

 together in several places, I decided to make diligent search for 

 trees which would answer the required conditions of hybrids. 

 After coming into the Ironbarks and Box a few hundred yards, 

 three trees were found which seem intermediate in every respect 

 between E. sideroxylon and E. Woollsiana both in the colour 

 and texture of the bark and wood, as well as in the size of the 

 fruits, which are larger than those of E. Woollsiana, but smaller 

 than those of E. sideroxylon. This doubtful-looking tree was 

 found again several times before reaching the Lachlan, but never 

 in great numbers, and invariably associated with the same two 

 species. These are points of circumstantial evidence which 

 suggest hybridization. There is one feature in which this tree 

 more nearly resembles the Ironbark than the Box, and it is in 

 regard to the colour of the sap, which is a yellowish-green similar 

 to the Ironbark, while that of the Box is white. In general 

 appearance the tree is much like E. ajfinis, Deane and Maiden, 

 but the fruits separate them. It is also like the doubtful tree at 

 Liverpool. 



