74 



Bentham (B.Fl. iii, 255) then described it as follows : — ■ 



A beautiful tree, with a more dense foliage than usual in the genus, the rough, corky bark coming 

 of! in irregular masses (Oldfield). Leaves ovate, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, obtuse or mucronate-acute, 

 rather rigid with very numerous transverse parallel veins, the intramarginal one scarcely distant frcm 

 the edge. Umbels loose, with rather large flowers, in a terminal corymbose panicle, with one or two some- 

 times in the upper axils. Peduncles flattened or nearly terete, pedicels longer than the calyx-tube. Calyx- 

 tube turbinate and often ribbed on the adnate part, the free part much dilated, often i inch diameter. 

 Operculum hemispherical, obtuse or umbonate, shorter than the calyx-tube and continuous with it till 

 the flower expands. Stamens | to f inch long; anthers ovate, with parallel distinct cells opening longi- 

 tudinally. Ovary flat or slightly convex on the top. Fruit when perfect ovoid-urceolate, 2 inches long 

 and above 1 inch diameter, very thick and hard, with a thick neck contracted at the orifice, but sometimes 

 the fruit is smaller, the neck less distinct and less contracted. Cafsvle deeply sunk. Seeds large, ovate, 

 black, fiat or with a raised angle on one face, the edges acute but scarcely winged, the hilum large on the 

 inner face. 



It was figured and described by Mueller in his " Eucalyptographia." 



Here we have a case of nomen nudum had the date been, say, thirty years later. 

 Nowadays a date would not be accepted without a description, as was accepted by our 

 predecessors in the case of 1831 or 1832. Probably Robert Brown distributed specimens 

 to herbaria at this time, but the generally accepted dates of species in the old days 

 were often in the nature of a compromise. Schauer in Plantce Preissiance 1, 131 (1845), 

 attributes this species to Lindley, but Bentham, Mueller, and all other writers on 

 Eucalyptus are unanimous in attributing it to Brown, and I do not agree that they 

 are wrong. Lindley himself speaks of the name as " current " in his time. 



This is the commonest " Red Gum" of Western Australia. The leaves slightly 

 perfoliate in the young state. There is caoutchouc in the young leaves. 



Miss Bussell, of Ellensbrook, informed me that Red Gum blossom is called 

 " Booneet " by the blacks. They state that when it is in flower the Groper comes into 

 the reef, so that the blacks can spear them. They make a somewhat similar observa ion 

 in regard to the plant they call " Whale's Eye" {GandoUea cuneiformis Labill ). 



In bark and general appearance the Red Gum resembles the Bloodwoods of 

 the east. Red Gum is a pale-coloured timber with abundant gum-veins (in this respect 

 also resembling Blood wood). (It owes its common name to the abundance of its red 

 astringent gum or kino.) I noticed fruit cases made with Jarrah ends and Red Gum 

 sides. At a little distance the pale wood in a fruit case resembles Pine. (J.H.M. in 

 Journ. W.A. Nat. Hist. Soc, Vol. Ill, 1911). 



When travelling in Western Australia a few years ago, this tree was reputed 

 to flower every alternate year, and was said by some to yield the best honey. 



Mr. A. H. Smith, of Baker's Hill, W.A., gave the following particulars in the 

 Western Mail of 6th March, 1914, in regard to the flowering of this species. He is a 

 beekeeper, and the notes would have increased value if they had been backed with 

 the dates of the flowerings. 



When well grown it is the largest of the trees in the coastal and hills districts. It blooms from 

 February to April, March being the month of full bloom. Every year a few trees, particularly saplinf^s, 

 may be found in bloom, but usually only one year out of three is marked by abundant general blossoms. 

 In other words, the majority of trees bloom one year and miss two. Sometimes only one year is missed, 



