

EUCALYPTUS BOTRYOIDES. 



Smith, in the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London iii. 286 (179G) ; De Candolle, prodromus systematis 

 naturalis regni vegetabilis iii. 219 ; F. M., fragraenta phytographise Australia; ii. 48 & 175 ; Bentham flora 

 Australiensis iii. 229 ; E. platypodos, Cavanilles, icones et descriptiones plantarum iv. 23, t. 341 (1797). 



Finally tall ; branchlets angular ; leaves scattered, elongate- or sickleshaped-lanceolar, rarely 

 verging towards an oval form, above darker green and shining, beneath paler and dull-greenish, 

 lateral veins almost transversely spreading, close, subtle, the circumferential vein near to the edge 

 of the leaf ; oil-dots much concealed or soon obliterated ; Jlonerstalks broadly compresssed, axillary 

 and solitary, sometimes crowded, seldom somewhat paniculated, bearing usually 4-9 flowers ; 

 calyces almost or entirely devoid of stalk lets, not or somewhat angular ; lid almost hemispherical, 

 quite blunt or slightly pointed, about half as long as the almost obconic tube or rarely nearly as 

 long ; stamens all fertile ; anthers nearly oval, opening by longitudinal slits ; stigma hardly 

 broader than the comparatively short style ; fruits semiovate or hcmiellipsoid, 3-. r >-celled, lined 

 by slight angles or not, angular ; rim narrow ; valves short, inserted close beneath the orifice, not 

 emerging ; seeds all without appendage, the sterile much narrower than the fertile seeds. 



From Lake Tyers and the lower Snowy River through East-Gippsland to the southern portion 

 of New South Wales, there westwards not crossing the Dividing Kange, following mostly river- 

 courses, but occurring also in moist sandy localities close to the seacoast. Probably it does not 

 extend into Queensland, as the Blue Gum-tree mentioned from thence is referable to a species of 

 the series of Leiophloije, probably E. saligua. 



The shady and horizontal dark-green foliage of this beautiful tree give it among Victorian 

 species quite a peculiar and imposing aspect, reminding rather of an Eugenia than an Eucalyptus. 

 Stems will occasionally attain a height of 80 feet without a branch and a diameter of 8 feet. It 

 is one of the few among its congeners, which with advantage can be utilized for wood-culture on 

 coast-sands. Bark persistent on the stem and main branches, outside dark, wrinkled and some- 

 what furrowed. Wood light-brown. When the tree has arisen on rich soil along running streams 

 its wood is regarded as one of the best among those of Eucalypts, and is then utilized for the 

 manufacture of waggons, trucks, all the heavier kinds of wheelwrights' work, particularly felloes ; 

 it is also very eligible for shingles as water does not become discolored by them ; when the tree 

 grows on coast-sands its wood is still useful for sawing and fencing, though the stems occur 

 there often gnarled (Kirton) ; sought also for knees of vessels or boats (Woolls) ; the timber 

 is usually sound to the centre. The various accounts given of its durability under ground are 

 contradictory. 



It is rather unfortunate, that so unmeaning a name as " Bastard Mahogany " has found its 

 way extensively into colonial language for the tree ; the natives of East-Gippsland call it 

 " Binnak," those near Port Jackson " Bangalay." The specific names given by Sir James Smith 

 and the Abb6 Cavanilles to this tree are nearly contemporaneous, that of the former supposed 

 to allude to the umbels sometimes (but indeed not frequently) grape-like crowded into bunches 

 being less expressive of the characteristics of this species, than the appellation given by the 

 Spanish phytographer in allusion to the flatness of the flowerstalks. 



It differs from E. goniocalyx in still more persistent bark, in the almost horizontal not nearly 

 vertical turn of the leaves (resulting in a saturated green of their upper surface and in a paleness 

 of the lower page as well as in hypogenous stomata only), further in their more numerous almost 

 transversely spreading veins, somewhat blunter lid and generally rather less valves of the fruit ; 



