EUCALYPTUS ROBUSTA. 



former. From E. saligna, which comes in most of its characteristics nearer to E. botryoides and 

 E. resinifera, we can distinguish E. robusta already by the persistency of the bark of the latter. 



As a tree for the production of fuel and of such timber, as needs not great strength, E. robusta 

 is evidently more important than hitherto supposed, especially when we consider its adaptability 

 to stagnant swampy or marshy localities such as are fit only for a very limited kind of woody 

 vegetation ; but the tree seems to require for its best development access to the sea-air. Mr. 

 Kirton writes from Bulli : " In low, sour, swampy ground near the sea-coast, where other Eucalypts 

 look sickly, E. robusta is the picture of perfect health." The wood is reddish, difficult to split, 

 rather brittle, but according to Woolls and Fawcett enduring well in damp places ; used much 

 for round and square posts, joists and sleepers, remarkable for its freedom from destructive 

 insects, ascribable to the presence of Kino-red. Two pieces of timber subjected by us here to 



tests as regards transverse strain gave for S I Jir ) V*^ in average ; this places the wood only 



at a par with E. amygdaliua and E. obliqua in reference to strength ; the specific gravity of air- 

 dried wood was found to be '930, absolutely dry - 756. Another specimen, air-dried, weighed 

 1-098, absolutely dry -889. The analysis gave : 19 per cent, water, 4^ per cent, tannic acid, 19 

 per cent. Kino-red and 57 per cent, woody substance. This is the largest percentage of Kino-red 

 hitherto observed in any wood, E. rostrata and E. margiuata ranking next with from 16 to 17 

 per cent. How far the presence of a greater or lesser quantity of this substance in Eucalyptus- 

 timber affects its durability will have to be yet further proved ; certainly its predominance in our 

 most lasting woods appears to point it out as the main-factor in this respect. Far more favorable 

 accounts as regards the toughness and bearing power of the wood are extant, but whether they 

 refer to any habitually similar species (perhaps E. resinifera) or whether the timber varies much 

 in tenacity according to its growth in low and wet or more elevated and dry ground, requires yet 

 to be locally further investigated. The odor of the foliage is somewhat peculiar and more pleasant 

 than that of many other Eucalypts. The tree flowers, so far as noticed, from June till December. 

 Young seedlings, sent by the Rev. Dr. Woolls, have the stern slender and angular with leaves 

 oblong- or narrow-lanceolar and soon scattered. 



A quick-growing tree, rare in the Illawarra district, whicli at Lucknow attained a height of 

 45 feet in 10 years, and which as a species or variety I distinguished as E. Kirtoniana, is in flowers 

 and fruit nearer to E. resinifera than to E. robusta, but has the leaves of almost equal color on 

 both sides, thus far and also in shape more resembling those of E. tereticornis, while the bark, 

 unlike that of E. saligna, is persistent. The stomates of E. Kirtoniana vary on the upper side of 

 the leaf between 33,000 and 43,000 and on the lower page from 95,000 to 166,000 on a square 

 inch, this great fluctuation being attributable probably to the age of the tree. It is particularly 

 noticeable on account of its adaptability to a warm wet clime, and grew under Dr. Bonavia's care 

 better than any other species in Oude ; the technic value of its timber remained unascertained. 



EXPLANATION OF ANALYTIC DETAILS. 1, an unexpended flower, the lid lifted ; 2, longitudinal section of the 

 same ; 3 and 4, front- and back-view of an anther with portion of its filament ; 6, style and stigma ; 6 and 7, longi- 

 tudinal and transverse section of fruit ; 8 and 9, sterile and fertile seeds ; 10, portion of a leaf; all magnified, but 

 to various extent. 



