292 Eicarf, White and Wood : 



calyx upwards blue, near its base suddenly cylindrical narrowed 

 outside, rather sparsely beset with soft hairlets inside, at and 

 towards the lowest lobe bearing long tender intricate hairlets, 

 the two upper lobes deltoid, the two lateral lobes ovate-senii- 

 lanceolar, the lowest lobe more roundish, stamens all shorter 

 than the corolla, their anthers bluish ; style nearly glabrous ; 

 ovulary densely beset with white appressed hairlets." 



Eremophila Merralli is quite distinct from the type Ererno- 

 jihihi gibhosi folia (pi. liii.. f. 4-6). The calyx of EremojJhila 

 gibbosifolia is glabrous, whereas that of Ere?nophila Merralli 

 is densely hairy. Also the corolla of the latter is sparsely 

 beset with hairlets outside, and inside the few branching 

 hairlets are found near the lower lobe, the lateral lobes are 

 almost acute, and the tw^o upper lobes are small and deltoid. 



The corolla of E. gibbosifolia is glabrous outside, and inside 

 the lower lobe bears a dense soft mass of hairlets. 



The fruits differ in shape and hairness, as shown on the plate. 

 The fruit of E. Merralli is a bi- tri- or quadrilocular drupe, with 

 one seed in each loculus, a thin fleshy mesocarp, and a hard 

 stony endocarp. 



The Elder expedition specimen, as well as the Pliolidia 

 coerulea of Spencer le Moore, which he considers to be the same 

 plant, seem to resemble Erf-niopliihi Merralli closely, and the 

 former specimen was, in fact, labelled by Baron von Mueller as 

 E. Merralli. The calj-x is less hairy, and in this respect Spencer 

 le Moore's specimens, which were distinguished by him as a 

 separate species " Pholidia roeruha,^' show an approach towards 

 E. gibbosifolia, but the difference is hardly sufficient for the 

 recognition of a distinct species or even variety. The question 

 of priority is a matter of some difficulty in this case, assuming 

 Pholidia and Ertmopliila to be interchangeable, but Mueller's 

 name has been accepted in the Kew Index, as well as at 

 the National Herbarium for many years, and it is possible a 

 description may have been published in some out-of-the-way 

 publication, although no record of it can be found. 



Wangering, West Australia, R. Helms, 14/11/91 (Elder ex- 

 ploring expedition). Parker's Range, West Australia, E. Mer- 

 rall, 1891; L. Deborah, near Mt. Moore, 1,SS9, E. Merrall ; 

 Gibraltar, West Australia, S. Le Moore. Oct., 189;"). 



