48 



enclosed staineus spread out in a circle. There do not 

 appear to be sepals or petals. In Blue-gum and one or 

 two more of our forms there is an outer hood, which is 

 thrown off rather early. Now, comparison with closely- 

 related genera, as, for instance, the Australian genus Ango- 

 phora, leads to the conclusion that the outer hood is a 

 much-altered calyx, and the inner one a modified corolla. 

 Even if we could not directly detect the change, we should 

 come to the same conclusion, for we find new structures 

 seldom appear; what look like such are nearly always 

 simply old structures changed in detail. 



The stamens in Eucalyptus are of exceptional interest, 

 as the forms of their anthers are of great use in sorting 

 it into groups. They are numerous, free from one another, 

 arranged in a circle upon the edge of the floral tube, and 

 in the bud the long filaments are doubled, so that the 

 anthers are tucked down towards the centre of the flower. 

 In some West Australian species the stamens are straight 

 from the first. When that is so the hood is like a long 

 horn. The anthers are small, and in Tasmania assume 

 two forms, which split our Gums into two natural sec- 

 tions. In Manna, Blue, Cider, and a few others the two 

 halves of the anthers are arranged parallel to one another. 

 In Stringy, Drooping, Peppermint, and Swamp the two 

 halves touch above, but diverge below, assuming the shape- 

 of a kidney. In both cases each half opens by splitting 

 down the centre. There is a third form not represented 

 in Tasmania, where the anther opens by a pore instead of 

 splitting. The pistil differ? in no important detail from 

 the form described in last chapter. The fruit is a capsule 

 closely combined with the tube. In Manna-gum it pro- 

 trudes, at least its valves do, giving the fruit a spherical 

 appearance. In Cider, and more so in Urn Gum, it is 

 deeply sunk, the tube much exceeding it. 



Most Gums take time in maturing their flowers. From 

 the first appearance of the bud to the bursting of the lid 

 in Blue-gum generally takes two years ; also, except those 

 growing at a high altitude, they appear indifferent to the 

 period of the season. Specimens of our lowland forms may 

 be found in flower at any period of the year. When many 

 of a species are in flower at the same time it is the result of 

 a climatic condition, as dryness, that occurred some time 

 before causing the change in the tree's condition that is 

 responsible for the laying down of flowers. A Gum does 

 not flower in a desultory manner ; however long it takes 

 for the blooms to come to maturity, they all burst out at 



