30 EUCALYPTUS. 



kept retain their vitality for four years at least. While 

 even the very small amygdalina seed are recorded as all 

 fertile six years after gathering, experimenters have had 

 too many sad experiences in California with worthless Euca- 

 lyptus seed to trust to any but the freshest. Several Aus- 

 tralian authorities state that the majority of Eucalyptus 

 seeds are sterile. This has not been my experience. 



Amongst the Eucalypti there seems to exist a rule that 

 the size of the seed shall be inverse to the size of the 

 plant. Thus, about the smallest seeds are those of the 

 amygdalina, the tallest of the genus, while the largest are 

 on far smaller trees or even bushes like the Eucalyptus min- 

 iata. A seed of this very ornamental crimson flowered 

 species was planted after being for thirteen years in the 

 museum at Melbourne and promptly sprouted. This indi- 

 cates a seed vitality that is a frequent characteristic of 

 plants indigenous to countries with prolonged dry seasons. 

 In the contrast of the size of seeds to the size of the trees 

 bearing them California has a parallel for Australia. Our 

 Sequoia is our largest tree and its seeds are very 

 small while our dwarf pines and mesquite have pretty 

 good sized ones. 



I have alluded to disappointments due to sterile Euca- 

 lyptus seeds but troubles from this source are slight com- 

 pared to those arising from fertile seed not true to name. 

 To such an extent has this unreliability of seed gone that 

 even so important a species as Eucalyptus rostrata, (red 

 gum,) is still represented in our plantations by half a 

 dozen different species. 



This confusion has been attributed to the carelessness 

 or even fraud of the seed sellers. My own opinion is that 

 it is more due to ignorance and mistake than to anything 



