DESCRIPTION. 



CXLV. E. vemicosa Hook. f. 



In London Journal of Botany vi, 478 (1847). 



Ramis validis, ramulis acute angulatis foliis alternis parvis uniformibus brevitcr petiolatis crasse 

 coriaceis late elliptico-oblongis utrinque obtusis mucronulatis nitidis vernicosis, pedunculis brevissimis 

 1-3-floris, alabastris sessilibus late obconicis, operculis cupulam subtequantibus conico-hemisphericis 

 subrostellatis, capsulis hemisphericis ore lion contracto piano v. depresso. 



Hab. — Mount Fatigue, altitude 4,000 feet. Gunn. 



Arbor parva, 4-pedalis, in convallibus 15-pedalis. Rami crecti, robusti, rugulosi, cicatricati; 

 ramulis plerumque tetragonis, angulis acutis. Folia breviter petiolata, pctiolo | unc. longo, lamina uncialis, 

 l~l unc. lata, valde rigida, coriacea, apice rotundata apiculata, sicca flavido-virescentia nitida, obscure 

 nervosa. Pedunculi brevissimi, crassi, vix J unc. longi v. sub-nulli. Alabastra £ unc. longa, sicca rugosa. 

 Capsula J unc. longa, ad orem aequilata obconico-hemispherica. 



In Fl. Tas. i, 135 (1860), Hooker re-described his species in the following words : — 



Arbuscula glaberrima vernicosa nitida, ramis ramulisque erectis robustis, foliis parvis erectis breve 

 petiolatis exacte oblongis ellipticis rotundatisve apiculatis crassissime coriaceis, pedunculis crassis brevissimis 

 1-3-floris, calyce late obconico v. oblongo operculum conico-hemisphsericmn subrostellatum ffiquante, 

 capsula hemisphserica ore non contracto piano v. depresso. (Gunn, 1113.) 



Hab. — Summit of Mount Fatigue, elev. 4,000 feet, Milligan, Gunn (Fl. April). 



A very, peculiar and most distinct form, perhaps the smallest of the whole genus, quite unlike any 

 other Tasmanian one, though, all the specimens being from but one locality, some allowance must be made 

 for deviations from the description. Gunn describes it as forming a bush 1-4 feet high, though he suspects 

 that some trees of 15 feet, which he saw in rocky, sheltered places, may be the same. Branches very stout, 

 erect, covered with dark, red-brown, rough bark; branchlets angled. Leaves erect, \-\\ inch long, 

 excessively thick and coriaceous, shining as if varnished on both surfaces, oblong or elliptical or orbicular, 

 apiculate,petioled. Peduncles very short and thick, one- to three-flowered. Calyx oblong or obconic, with 

 a broad, conical, almost rostrate operculum. Peduncles generally many-flowered. Operculum considerably 

 shorter than the calyx. 



Then Ben.th.am (B.F1. iii, 232, 1866) also described it in English, but a little 

 more fully than the original describer. 



Then we have two interesting notes by Rodway :—- 



1. " This interesting Eucalypt on Mt. La Perouse, attains a height of 20 feet. The leaves are all 

 opposite and the flowers solitary in the axils. These features I found constant for the whole country from 

 the Hartz through Adamson to Perouse, a distance of about 30 miles. 



" On the West Coast the smaller forms retain the opposite leaves, but the flowers are three together 

 on short peduncles. On Mt. Geikie the taller plants bear larger alternate leaves, but with smaller flowers." 

 (Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas., 1898-9, p. 104.) 



2. E. vernicosa H. Erect shrub, 4-6 feet, rarely 12-20. Bark smooth. Leaves thick, shining, 

 equal-sided, broadly oblong, stalked, opposite, rarely alternate, i-2 inches long. Flowers solitary or three 

 in the umbel. Operculum conical, half as long as the capsule. Fruit hemispheric to semi-ovate, ^— £ inch 

 diameter, on very short stalk. Capsule sunk. 



On mountain tops, from La Perouse to Arrowsmith and to the West Coast. (The Tasmanian Flora, 

 p. 58, 1903.) 



