28 NOTES ON SOME TASMANIAN EUCALVPTS, 



5. E. regnans F.v.M. 



(including E. fastigata Deane and Maiden, as a variety). 



At p. 170 Messrs. Baker and Smith repeat a former state- 

 ment of theirs that E. fastigata is a distinct species, making 

 the naive remark that Muellcv "hesitatingly named it E. 

 "'amygdalina var., showing that he never associated it with 

 "his E. regnans, a species of his own collecting." This inci- 

 dent only proves, and it proves nothing more, tliat on one 

 occasion Mueller received a specimen of the tree afterwards 

 named fastigata, and placed it under amggdaJina. There 

 are two kinds of names, those given by a botanist off-hand 

 without prejudice, as the lawyers say. and those given as 

 the result of special research. Every botanist in large 

 practice (as a lawyer or medical man would say) must name 

 some plants off-hand or else leave them unnamed, and it 

 is misleading, unless accompanied by a clear statement of 

 the evidence, to make a point that a botanist 'never asso- 

 "ciated" a plant with another. 



Like these authoi-s, the present writer has examined E. 

 regnans and E. fastigata in the field, and he looks upon the 

 latter as simply an environmental form of the other, one 

 that frequents drier situations. Some differences in the 

 composition of the oils from a few distillations of the two 

 forms, simply prove that oils ai-e variable (within limits) 

 like everything else pertaining to Eucalyptus. 



6. E. dives Schauer. 



Messrs. Baker and Smith, p. 173, repeat their statement 

 that "in the case of E. dives it was not, till shown by this 

 "Reseai-ch (1902) that the mature trees became identified." 

 If my readers will do me the favour of reading p. 190. Part 

 vii., of my Critical Bevision they will see this species 

 historically treated, and Mr. Deane and I announced the 

 rediscovery or identification of E. dives in the year 1899, 

 (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. xxiv., 460), three years earlier than 

 Messrs. Baker and Smiths observation! 



7. E. Risdoni Hook. f. 



I have gone very fully into this species at p. 172, Part vi.. 

 of my Critical Bevision, although the reference has es- 

 caped the notice of Messrs. Baker and Smith. 



Perusal of p. 175 and of Plate 32 of my work will show 

 that I had already confirmed Bentham's observation by 

 noting "lanceolate leaves are common on the tops of 

 "branches of E. Eisdoni." and Mr. Deane and I compared 

 them with a similar phenomenon in E. pulveruleiita 

 (cinerea). 



