1646 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



The only specimens which we know in England are three trees at Menabilly, 1 

 the largest of which was 29 ft. by 1 ft. 8 in. in January 191 1 ; and another at Holk- 

 ham, about nine years old, which was 30 ft. high in 191 1. This species did not 

 succeed at Kinloch Hourn, where all the seedlings were killed in 1894- 1895. 



(A. H.) 



EUCALYPTUS VERNICOSA, Dwarf Gum 



Eucalyptus vernicosa, 2 J. D. Hooker, in Lond. Journ. Bot. vi. 478 bis (1847), and Fl. Tasm. i. 135 

 (i860); Bentham and Mueller, Fl. Austral, iii. 232 (1866); Rodway, in Proc. Roy. Soc. 

 Tasmania, 1898-1899, p. 104, and Tasmanian Flora, 58 (1903); Maiden, in Rep. Austrl. 

 Assoc. Advance. Sc., Hobart, 1902, p. 376. 



An erect shrub, with smooth bark, usually 4 to 6 ft., rarely 12 to 20 ft. in height 

 in Tasmania. Young branchlets green and angled towards the top, reddish brown 

 and terete elsewhere. Leaves (Plate 365, Fig. 2) on adult shrubs, alternate, opposite, 

 or sub-opposite, narrowly ovate or elliptical, | to 2 in. long, and ^ to 1 in. wide, 

 rounded or slightly tapering at the equal-sided base, rounded or acute at the apex, 

 which is tipped with a short triangular sharp point; margin entire or faintly undulate; 

 very thick and coriaceous in texture ; equally green and shining as if varnished on 

 both surfaces ; oil-dots few, scattered, unequal, concealed in the thicker older leaves ; 

 lateral veins arising at an angle of 45 from the midrib ; petiole \ to \ in. long. 



Flowers in axillary umbels of three, two, or one ; peduncle very short, not 

 exceeding ^ in. long ; flower-buds sessile, \ to \ in. long, shining dark brown ; 

 calyx-tube turbinate, with two lateral ridges ; operculum conical, shorter than the 

 calyx-tube ; stamens all perfect ; anthers ovate, with closely contiguous but parallel 

 and distinct cells. Fruit hemispheric, \ in. long, sub-sessile ; rim narrow, flat or 

 convex ; capsule slightly sunk, with three to four valves protruding when open. 



This species is confined to Tasmania, where it grows on the summits of the 

 higher mountains, as on Mount Fatigue, where it was discovered by Gunn in 1842 

 at 4000 ft. altitude, on Mount La Perouse, Mount Sorell near Macquarie Harbour, 

 Mount Geikie, and Mount Direction (2409 ft. altitude). It is called dwarf gum by 

 Rodway, who says that it seems to occur only on the sub-alpine plains of the west 

 and south-west of the island. He adds that on Mount La Perouse, where it attains 

 20 ft. in height, the leaves are all opposite and the flowers solitary ; whereas on the 

 west coast, where it remains bushy, the leaves are opposite and the flowers in threes; 

 while taller plants on Mount Geikie bear large alternate leaves with flowers in 

 threes. All these forms occur on the specimens raised from the same seed at 

 Kinloch Hourn. 



1 A specimen branch of apparently another tree was sent from Menabilly to Kew in 1903, when it was reported to have 

 been 33 ft. high. This tree cannot now be found. 



s Apparently this is the E. verrucosa, mentioned by Landsborough in Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin. xx. 518 (1896). 

 Mr. Birkbeck says in his notebook, that " they have two sorts at Edinburgh, one labelled E. verrucosa, the other E. verrucosa; 

 except that the former has larger leaves, I see no difference." E. verrucosa is evidently a misprint, as no species has been 

 described under that name. 



