298 



DESCRIPTION. 



CVIII. E. diversicolor F.v.M. 



In Fragm. iii, 131 (1863). 



It was then described in English in B.Fl. iii, 251, and again described and figured in 

 the " Eucalyptographia," Mueller reproduced his own figure, and redescribed the 

 species more briefly in his "Forest Eesources of Western Australia" (1882). The 

 fruits are depicted too conoid. 



After seeing much growing Karri, I have elsewhere suggested that it 

 corresponds in habitat, in general appearance, both of tree and timber, to the Blue 

 Gum {E. saligna Sm.) of Eastern Australia. 



The outline of the juvenile leaf is shown in the "Eucalyptographia " Plate, 

 while the venation is shown on fig. 7a of Plate SO of the present work. The young 

 foliage is very thin in texture, with pale undersides. Mueller ("Eucalyptographia") 

 speaks of this tree in superlative terms. lie says : 



One of the grandest trees of the globe and one of the greatest works in the whole creation of plants. 

 Astounding records of the height of this giant tree have been given. Messrs. Muir saw troes with .^tenis 

 about 300 feet long up to the first branch, and I myself noticed many trees which approached to 400 feet 

 in their total height. 



One is reminded of the quoted heights of the Victorian Mountain Ash, 

 E. regnans, only a few miles from Melbourne, which shrank from 525 to 326 feet on 

 investigation. See p. 183, vol. i, of the present work, and p. 161, vol. ii, of my 

 •' Forest Flora of New South Wales," where the general question of the heights of 

 Australian and American trees is reviewed. The fact is that the estimated height 

 of a very high tree is valueless as a specific record. No estimates are worth anything 

 unless they are backed by the observations of a surveyor or other competent person. 

 In many forests it is exceedingly difficult to take observations, and a perfectly honest 

 man may be very easily mistaken. 



But this can be certainly stated, that the Karri does attain a huge size. I 

 have wandered in Karri forests and individual trees are stupendous, but I would not 

 like to quote their size in figures, since I had no means of measurement or comparison 

 with me. 



