THE UENUS EUCALYPTUS. 



the colossal dimensions and towering height of sonic species are 

 perhaps unrivalled in the world. According to a statement 

 recently published by Dr. F. Mueller, the karri (E. colossea or 

 diversicolor) attains in favourable spots the height of 400 feet, 

 whilst the messmate ( E. amygdalina) has been known to measure 

 480 feet. These, however, are extraordinary instances, and 

 limited to the glens of the Warren River in Western Australia, 

 the recesses of the Dandenong, &c. In some of the gullies in 

 the Blue Mountains, and on the Mittagoug Kange, a blue gum of 

 this colony (E. ciiyenioides), and the messmate, are known to ex- 

 ceed in height any of the ordinary gums in the neighbourhood of 

 Sydney, where, notwithstanding the havoc that has been committed 

 amongst the native forests in the process of cultivation, ironbark 

 {E. paniculata), bloodwood (E. coiymbosa), and swamp mahogany 

 (E. robustd), have been ascertained to range from 100 to 150 

 feet. Whilst from their general appearance and usual character- 

 istics, there is no difficulty in referring our common gums to 

 the genus Eucalyptus, there is intense difficulty in dividing the 

 genus into sections, and in determining the limits of each species. 

 This has been felt by every botanist from the foundation of the 

 colony, and notwithstanding the labours of Mr. Bentham and Dr. 

 F. Mueller, as displayed in the third volume of the Flora 

 Australiensisy and the second volume of the Fragmenta Pliyto- 

 graphiG Australia, many mysteries remain to be cleared up. It 

 has frequently been remarked that the woodcutters in the vicinity 

 of Port Jackson are better able to distinguish the ordinary species 

 of Eucalyptus, by paying attention to their bark and the nature 

 of their timber, than the systematic botanist can separate one 

 species from another by dwelling upon the peculiarity of their 

 inflorescence, or even the divisions of their seed vessels. And 

 the reason is this, that many of the trees which differ very widely 

 in the texture of their bark and the specific gravity of their wood, 

 and to all intents and purposes are perfectly distinct from each 

 other, yet agree very nearly in 'the ordinary characters by which 

 species are regulated, so that a written description, especially 

 from dried specimens, may be applied to half a-dozen different 

 kinds of gum. This, indeed, has frequently been the case, and even 

 amongst men of scientific attainments, as might easily be shown 

 by referring to various works which have been written on the 



