

102. Eucalyptus melliodora. 



\ i mm.. Hi 

 Yellow Box. 



Systematic. Generally a fair-sized tree. Bark persistent, smooth, and 

 buff-coloured, or sometimes rugged towards the base; oi a rich yellow colour 

 (in the inner side. Abnormal leaves oval, or ovate lan< rotate, thin, variable 

 in size; venation taintly marked, lateral veins parallel, distant, intramarginal 

 vein much removed from the edge. Normal leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 

 under 6 inches long; venation po1 well marked excepl the intramarginal vein, 

 which is removi d from the edge, and is so distinct a1 the base as to give a trinerved 

 appearance to the leaf; drj a pale yellow colour. Peduncles short axillary, 

 slender, with about six flowers in the umbel. Calyx scarcely 2 lines in diameter, 

 conical, on a pedicel oi aboui 2 lines; operculum short, hemispherical, obtuse. 



ft 



Fruit. Mostly hemispherical, but occasionally pyri- 

 111; rim thin, sometimes with a constric- 

 tion immediately below it : valves not 

 ex ;ei ted ; under 3 lines in diameter. 



The fruits, with the strongly-marked rim which 

 sometimes bscom s detached, much resemblt E. Blaek- 

 burniana and E. Laseroni, whilst thi other form 

 approaches in shape E. odorata or E. paniculat l. 



Habitat. Tableland from Queensland into Victoria. 



RFMARKS. Thi common name ' Yellow Box" i ppeai to be nniformlj apj)lit-i 1 to this tree.+soth in New 

 South Wales and Victoria It derive i1 vernacular name from (i) the yellowish ce of the inner surface 



ut tin/ bark; (2) the timber, which is hard, close, interlocked, and pale yellow coloured, and very durable. It is 

 highly prized as fuel. Itisaverj distind :ample could be quoti I oi pecifii characters of 



1 . nus than is illustrated in this widely di tributed Eucalyptus Eoi its botanical characters show little variation, 

 whatever the environment may be. 



ESSENTIAL OIL. Leaves and terminal branchlets for distillation were 

 obtained from Rylstone, N.S.W., in April, £898. Ihe yield of oil was 0-87 per 

 cent. The crude oil was red in colour, and had an odour resembling the cineol- 

 pinene oils generallv. The presence of volatile aldehydes was also shown. The 

 oil was rich in cineol, and when re< titled was tlmost colourless, and, as a cineol- 

 pinene oil, of very fair quality, although the specifi< gravity was remarkably low, 

 and in this did not reai h the standard for specific gravity (0*91) as laid down 

 by the British Pharmacopoeia. This low specific gravitj oi the oil fiom this 

 species is perhap pai 1 13 due to the time of the yi ?r whi n distilled, and also to the 

 presence of a small quantity of phellandrene present in the oil. This species is 

 probably one of the links thai conneci the phellandrene-bearing nils with those 

 belonging to the more pronounced cineol-pinene groups. Thai this tendency is 

 in the direction "1 the phellandren< group oi Eucalyptus oils, is indicated by 

 the removal oi the marginal vein fai from the n\^r oi the leaves, a character 

 which shows affinity with thosi species giving phellandrene-bearing nils. The 

 variation in specific gravitj oi Eucalyptus oils is largely governed bj the amounl 

 ni high-boiling constituents present, and foi thi reason the specify gravity of the 



