112 



• 



I look upon E. polymithemos as a very plastic species. I attach no undue 

 importance to the shape of the leaves, for in some districts they vary from nearly 

 circular to elliptical and tlience to lanceolar of various widths. I have been amongst 

 clumps of this species where I have found the shapes of the leaves as variable as in 

 almost any species of the genus. Then their thickness varies a good deal according 

 to soil and situation, while the glaucousness depends upon the elevation and the 

 season of the year. Tlie bark varies greatly as to the roughness and as to the 

 distance it extends along the trunk and branches ; while some trees are gnarled and 

 spreading, and others are erect and with a straight, useful trunk. I never could 

 see any difference in the timbers of the various trees considered to be species or 

 varieties. 



I have travelled extensively in districts where the ti'ees under discussion are 

 found, and in Plates &8 and 59 have taken pains to try and bring the evidence 

 together pictorially. 



Log. cit., p. 356, Mr. Baker quotes Mr. Deane's expression, " var. E. poly- 

 anthema.'' This means, I take it, in herbarium language, that he considers his tree 

 to come under E. polyanthema, though it is not strictly typical. It is a common 

 method of expression amongst botanists. 



Then he quotes an expression that I used in connection with some 

 Wangaratta, Victoria, specimens, " big trees, glaucous all ovei"," adding " they 

 are certainly not E. polyanthema, Schauer, as such an expression could not apply to 

 a Box-barked tree." Why not ? I collected the specimens myself on the banks 

 of the King River, in January, 19(j0, and the trees had Box-bark, and wei'e so 

 white that they looked as if they had been dusted in a flour-barrel. Some similar 

 specimens in the National Herbarium, Melbourne, from the same place (Wangaratta), 

 were labelled E. polyanthema by Mueller. 



RANGE. 



So far as we know at present, this species is confined to New South Wales and 

 Victoria. The type came from near Bathurst, and it has an extensive range in the 

 colder, drier districts of the two States. We want further inquiries as to its range, 

 both west and north. 



Victoria. 

 " The Red Box {E. polyanthema) grows in places all over Victoria. The 

 timber is, however, as a rule, rather small, the boles and limbs crooked, in some 

 places so much so, for instance iu the Havelock State Forest, as to be of no value 

 but for firewood." (A. W. Howitt in litt.) 



