TA'SMANIAN TIMBERS. 75- 



Blue Peppermint. — E. risdoni var elata. Also known as White- 

 gum and Cabbage-gum. 

 Red-gum. — E. acervula (Hooker). 

 Mountain Red-gum. — E. Milelleri (Moore). 

 Drooping-gum. — E. risdoni (Hooker). 

 Cider-gum. — E. gunnii (Hooker). 

 Mountain Peppermint. — E. coccifera. 



E. urnigera (Hooker), E. cordata (Lahillardiere), and E. vernir- 

 cosn (Hooker), have not yet received generally-accepted 

 popular names, and will be referred to here as the Urn- 

 bearing, Heart-leaved, and Dwarf -gum respectively. 

 Blue-gum is usually easily recognised in the forest by its erect 

 habit, the stem, even in the branching portion, remaining dis- 

 tinct, and the branches few and erect. This habit is shared by 

 few other species, and from those it may be distinguished by the 

 character of the bark, which is scaly and never fibrous at the 

 base, and above smooth, green to grey, and stripping off in long 

 ribbons. Stringy-hark, on the other hand, except where close 

 growth compels it, seldom acquires the same erect preponderating 

 stem ; the branching is more copious and spreading, and the bark 

 in the typical forms persistent, and fibrous to the upper branches. 

 In trees at a considerable elevation the bark is less persistent, and 

 in many cases is shed from close to the base, but the base is still 

 fibrous. The Peppermints vary greatly, and are primarily dis- 

 tinguished in the open by their small leaves ; in critical cases refer- 

 ence will have to be made to the scientific description to avoid 

 error. Black Peppermint has the erect habit, and a persistent, 

 dark, fibrous bark to the upper branches, but forms are constantly 

 met with where the persistent bark is not as copious. Stunted 

 forms of this, which flower when merely shrubs, have a tendency 

 for the bark to turn scaly. White Peppermint has a much more 

 branching and spreading tendency, the bark white and smooth 

 from the base, where the persistent bark is coarsely scaly. Blue 

 Peppermint has the habit and bark of the last, but the leaves 

 are much larger and broader, and the fruit larger ; it is a con- 

 necting-link with Drooping-gum, which again has the same 

 habit and bark, but the leaves are in pairs opposite one another, 

 and joined at the bases. Mountain Peppermint is very similar 

 to Blue Peppermint, but the leaves are still broader, and the 

 fruit very much larger, and often three together, a feature not 

 found in other Peppermints. Swamp-gum. is the name given to a 

 perfect series of forms connecting Black Peppermint with 

 Stringy-hark. In the typical form the habit is that of Blue-gum, 

 but the persistent bark, though thin, is fibrous, and continues a 

 considerable distance up the stem ; but in parts, however, the 

 bark is deciduous from close to the base, and strips off above in 

 ribbons, as in Blue-gum, leaving besides the more critical details 

 merely the basal bark for identification. Iron-hark has the 

 habit of a large Stringy-hark, but the persistent bark is nearly 

 black, very thick, and coarsely furrowed. It occurs only on the 

 North-Eastern portion of the State. Gum-topped Stringy is very 

 similar to the latter, but tends to be more erect in habit, and the 

 bark is less coarse and less persistent. It also is confined to the 

 same locality. The name, when applied in other parts, refers 

 to other species. Weeping-gum varies in habit, being erect, with 

 a preponderating stem in damp forests, and much branched, 

 spreading and drooping in the open. The bark is smooth from 



