THE GENUS EUCALYPTUS. 239 



Bark may be regarded as the type, but the section will also 

 include the " Messmate," " Peppermints," and probably the 

 fibrous variety of the Mountain " Bastard Box." The species 

 enumerated by Mr. Bentham, are ; (1.) E. amygdalina ; (2) E. 

 dbliqua ; (3.) E. dives ; (4.) E. capitella ; (5.) E. macrorhynclia ; 

 (6.) E. piper ita; (7.) E.stricta; and probably, the rough barked 

 E. Stuartiana. 



(1.) E. amygdalina, or the Almond-leaved Eucalyptus, is the 

 " Messmate," a tree very like " Stringy Bark," but having the 

 upper branches smooth. This tree grows on the Mittagong Eange, 

 and attains nearly 200 feet in height. Its wood is not much 

 valued. , A friend of mine says " that this is the most troublesome 

 tree that the settlers in that quarter have to do with, as the bole 

 is so very irregular, being deeply indented, and forming clefts or 

 " pockets," as the settlers term them. These are caused by the 

 form of the roots, extending a long way upwards, something like 

 the fig. The settlers have to erect stages when they "ring" the 

 larger trees, so as to get at a more even surface. They find it 

 impossible to follow the indentations, so as to cut through the 

 bark in the hollows." The free selectors on the Eaage find great 

 difficulty in clearing the ground where the " Messmate" prevails, 

 and when the trees are very large, they adopt the system I have 

 mentioned of cutting the bark as near the but as possible with a 

 view of killing those which they cannot fell. I think that this 

 species has been confused with the " Stringy Bark" (E. obliqua), 

 a tree which prevails to a much greater extent in New South 

 Wales, and which was amongst the first noticed and described 

 by the early Botanists (Willdenow). It was probably found on 

 the spot where Sydney now stands, but the " Messmate" is a 

 sub-alpine species, and does not occur in the county of Cumber- 

 land. In the " Messmate," the leaves are not so thick as in the 

 Stringy Bark, nor are they so oblique at the base. The flower 

 buds are smaller, the operculum more hemispherical in shape and 

 somewhat mucronulate, whilst the seed-vessel is more globose. 

 In a dried specimen, there is much difficulty in distinguishing 

 between the true E. amygdalina, and the Eiver White Gum (E. 

 radiata), which Mr. Bentham has united with it. The flower buds, 

 however, of the Eiver White Grum are much more numerous, and 

 the leaves are sometimes opposite. No one who has had an oppor- 



