K.— BOTANY. ■ 209 



of authentic camphor-jaelding plants from Ceylon have been sent to 

 Mauritius, and layers of oil-yielding plants have been sent from Mauritius 

 to Ceylon. 



It is hoped that the experiment may furnish some interesting results, 

 and may also possibly enable us also to formulate some conclusions as to 

 the significance of the physiological varieties of Eucalyptus dives. In the 

 latter, known as the broad-leaf peppermint, the proportions of various 

 constituents appear to vary somewhat in some of the varieties depending 

 on the time of year at which material was collected for examination. ^^ 



I may, perhaps, be allowed to refer to one more instance drawn from 

 the realms of the economic side of Systematic Botany, which, as in the 

 cases to which I have alluded, may prove to be of profound importance. 



'* See Penfold and Morrison in Journ. <fc Proc. R.S., N.S. Wales, vol. xlii (1928), 

 p. 74. Similar instances were noted at Tumbarumba. A sample of oil distilled from 

 the leaves and terminal branchlets selected from a clump of seven trees was found to 

 contain a small quantity of phellandrene, thus rendering an otherwise excellent oil 

 valueless for medicinal purposes. Moreover, the crushed leaves yielded the excellent 

 aroma of cineol-terpineol-citral. 



The medicinal oils for internal use contain as principal constituent a colourless 

 liquid with a camphoraceous odour called cineol or eucalyptol, and the well-known 

 curative properties of such oils for colds, influenza, &c., are generally attributed to 

 this body. . . . 



Such medicinal oils must be free from the terpene phellandrene, as this is considered 

 to affect the heart if present in any quantity. Phellandrene, however, is a very 

 valuable oil for industrial purposes, and forms the principal component, or occurs in 

 considerable quantity in the industrial oil group, such as E. phellandra, E. dives and 

 E. radiaia. 



It was, therefore, very difficult to account for the adverse report. After a special 

 search the trees were located, and were found to be botanically identical. The first 

 six trees examined proved to be E. dives, var. ' C ' ; the seventh tree, however, yielded 

 an oil rich in phellandrene (piperitone and piperitol could also be detected, but very 

 little cineol), and was approximately the variety ' B.' It is a remarkable fact that if 

 the leaves of the first six trees only had been distilled the oil would have been very 

 favourably reported upon, but owing to the inclusion of the leaves from the seventh 

 tree, phellandrene was present in the oil, which resulted in its being condemned. 



Again at Mannus Hill it is recorded that on one side of the road a number of trees 

 of the ' Type ' were growing distributed in a grove of trees composed of the varieties 

 ' B ' and ' C,' whilst on the other side, trees of the ' B ' variety were distributed through 

 a belt mainly consisting of variety ' C.' On crushing the leaves of one tree the piperi- 

 tone-phellandrene odour was pronounced, while crushed leaves of a tree only three 

 feet away exhaled the refreshing aroma of cineol with a little citral. 



Messrs. Penfold and Morrison have examined large areas of E. dives in New South 

 Wales and Victoria and have shown that in one locality one variety appears to pre- 

 dominate. 



They give the following particulars in Journ. tt- Proc. Roy. Soc, N.S. Wales, vol. 

 Ixiii, part iii (1929), p. 84: — 



1. In the Braid wood district the 'Type' prevails, with small quantities of 

 variety 'A.' 



2. Near Goulburn the ' Type ' with variety ' B ' are found. 



3. In the Tumbarumba district variety ' C ' is the predominating form, with very 

 little of the 'Type.' 



4. WhUe in Victoria very large areas of variety ' A ' are growing in conjunction 

 with the 'Type.' 



A similar condition of affairs is also recorded for Eucalyptus piperita, in Notes on 

 Eucalyptus piperita and its essential oils with special reference to their piperitone 

 content. Part I, A. R. Penfold and F. R. Morrison in Journ. <l- Proc. Roy. Soc, N.S. 

 Wales, vol. Iviii, 1924, where two marked, physiological varieties have been detected 

 by chemical methods. 



1930 • p 



