3^ NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



ooal.^ Gallistemon salignus also furnislies the Australians with an 

 excellent wood for building. That of Metrosideros vera is one of the 

 Iron woods of the Moluccas ; it is highly resistant and said to be 

 imperishable. In the South Sea islands the natives employ that of 

 M, polymorpha Gaudich. for making charcoal ; and that of a New 

 Zealand species, M. buxifolia,'^ has received the name of Lignum vitce. 

 M, stipularis^^ a Chilian species, has also a very useful wood. In 

 New Caledonia, several species of Metrosideros of the section Xan- 

 ihostemon are renowned for the hardness of their flexible wood, 

 suitable for cartwright work, particularly M, rubra * and puhescens.^ 

 That of M. pleurocalyptus ^ is dense, red veined with black ; that of 

 M. pancheri, of a dark red colour, has a fine and hard grain. Two 

 of the most beautiful Myrtacece of this country, remarkable for the 

 qualities of their juice, have also an excellent wood. The first is 

 Arillastrum gummiferum^^ the fibrous bark of which is easily re- 

 moved in large pieces, excellent for making huts and roofs. The 

 wood is reddish, hard, fibrous, imperishable in water, esteemed for 

 carpentry. In its fissures is sometimes deposited the dark and brittle 

 gum which this tree produces naturally. The other is Schizocalyx 

 rubiginosa^^ the milky and sticky juice of which hardens in the air 

 into a sort of gum, and the wood, which is of a beautiful violet-red 

 colour, works very well. The trees .of the LeptosjpermecB^ most 

 remarkable in this respect, are, without doubt, the Eucalypts. 

 Nearly all are Australian, and nearly all useful for their wood, which 

 is often excellent for building, sometimes very hard, imperishable, 

 and valuable for its rapid growth. Some species may be particularly 

 mentioned as uniting most of these conditions. The best known, to 



1 From New Caledoaia we derive a great part 387.— Panch. op. cit. 253. 



of the red woods, hard and close, of T, capitellata ' Panch. ex Br. et Gr. Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 5, 



{Tristaniopsis capitellata Br. et Gr. ; — Panch. ii. 136 ; xiii. 376; Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. x. 574.— 



et Seb. Notice Bois Nouv.-Caled. 249: Nompou Spermolepis gummifera Br. et Gr. loc. cit. — 



of the natives) and of T. Guillaini {Tristaniopsis Panch. op. cit. 251 {CMnegonime). 



Guillaini Vieill, ; — Panch. op. cit. 250). ^ gi^^ et Gr. Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 5, xiii. 380.— 



2 A. Cunn. — Hook. f. Man. N.-Zeal. Fl. 70. Spermolepis rubiginosa Br. et Gr. Bull. Soc. Bot. 

 — M. scandens Banks (ex Hook. f.). Ft. x. 574 ; Ann. Se. Nat. ser. 3, ii. 136. Per- 



* Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. ii. 75. — Myrtusstipu- haps (see p. 359, note 10) this plant does not 

 laris Hook, and Arn. Bot. Misc. iii. 316. — Te- belong to the American Schizocalgx. — Panch. 

 pualia stipularis Griseb. Pjl. Fhil. und Lechl. op. cit. 257 (vulg. Gommier). Fugenia ovigera 

 Abh. K. Ges. Wiss. Gatt. vi. Br. et Gr. {Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 5, iii. 216, n. 5) 



* Fremya rubra Br. et Gr. Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. appears to belong to the same genus as the 

 5, ii. 131. — Panch. op. cit. 252. preceding. Its hard wood, with red sap and 



5 F. pubescens Br. et Gr. loc. cit. 133. black heart, is excellent also for cartwright 



6 Fltiirocalyptus Beplanchet Br. et Gr. Nouv. work (Panch. op, cit. 258). 

 Arch. Mus. iv. t. 8 ; Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 6, xiii. 



