236 



AFFINITIES. 



The affinity of E. Beyeri as regards anthers (see fig. M, Plate 199) is with 

 E. paniculata, and not with E. crehra, which it often closely resembles in narrowness 

 of leaves, slenderness of branchlets, smallness of fruits ; and it seems to me, the question 

 is whether it should be considered (as Bentham and WooUs considered it), as a form of 

 E. paniculata, if its specific rank be not conceded. The anther of E. crehra has a small 

 gland at the top, and it is comparatively broad at the base. In E. paniculata and 

 E. Beyeri the anther is broad at the top. 



E. Beyeri has been known for at least half a century, and let us consider what 

 has been written about it. 



A. Bentham's views : — 



'■ Eucalyptus paniculata Sm. var. aiigustifolia. Leaves narrow and thin, as in some varieties of 

 E. crehra. Umbels loose, paniculate. Operculum conical. Outer stamens anantherous. New South 

 Wales, ■■■■ Narrow-leaved Iron-bark," Woolls (B.Fl. iii, 212, 188C). 



Woolls' specimens for the Flora Australiensis would have been forwarded to 

 Bentham some years ago with notes on the labels. 



B. Rev. Dr. Woolls' views : — 



1. "A contribution to the flora of Australia" (1867). In waiting the later 



chapters of this work, Mr. (afterwards Rev. Dr.) Woolls had Bentham's views before 



him. At p. 242 he says : — 



Speaking of E. paniculata and E. crehra : these are mere varieties of the ' white Iron Bark,' one of 

 the most valuable trees in the colony. ... I feel no hesitation in uniting E. paniculata and E. crehra 

 as one species, although there is an occasional difference in the quality of the wood, and in the size of the 

 flower-buds as well as in the texture of the leaves. In the form angustifolia, the flowers are very small, 

 and bear a great resemblance to those of E. hicolor, or the Bastard Box. 



2. E. angustifolia is regarded as a variety of E. paniculata, but the workmen, judging only from 

 the wood, call it a distinct species, by the name of the Narrow-leaved Ironbark. (Lect. Veg. Kingd., 

 123, 1879.) 



I think this is a slip of the pen for E. paniculata var. angustifolia Benth. 

 E. angustifolia Woolls is a nomen nudum for lack of description, and if it were not, the 

 name is preoccupied by E. angustifolia R.Br., a synonym of E. amygdalina Labill. See 

 Part VI of the present work, p. 151. 



3. In " Plants indigenous in the neighbourhood of Sydney " (1880 edition), 

 under Schizophloiee, we have " E. crehra F.v.M., E. paniculata Sm., and also E. sp., 

 doubtful," which is not the variety angustifolia above referred to. 



4. In a paper, " Eucalypts of the County of Cumberland " {Proc. Linn. Soc. 

 N.S.W., V. 293 (1881) ), under Schizophloige, we have " E. sp. F.v.M. ; E. crehra F.v.M. ; 

 and E. paniculata Sm., and var. angustifolia Benth." 



