186 



Fruits. — The figure (PL Ixi, not reproduced. — J.H.M.) will make the shape clear. They are pear- 

 shaped, have a conical or domed rim, with the valves somewhat exserted. They are always three-celled as 

 far as seen. Diameter of rim, 2| to nearly 3 lines. Length from end of pedicel to rim, 2A lines. 



The fruit differs from that of E. ohliqua in being more or less conical, while that of E. ohliqua is 

 subcylindrical. The latter species has no well-defined rim, and the valves are sunk, whereas in the tree 

 now under consideration there is a prominent rim, while the valves are somewhat exserted. The fruits of 

 E. ohliqua are also larger than those of our species, and have shorter stalks. In the latter species, the 

 peduncles are elongated over half an inch in fruit, and are distinctly pedicellate, about li lines. 



Bark. — It resembles closely that of E. obliqua, the principal difference between the two trees, in 

 this respect, consisting in the fact that the tops and the branches of " Cut-tail " are smooth, while those of 

 E. obliqua are the reverse. 



Timber. — It has all the characteristics of the timber of E. ohliqua, from which it is scarcely, or 

 not at all, to be distinguished. At Montgomery's mill, on the Tantawanglu Mountain, near Cathcart, the 

 two trees are considered of equal value, and the timbers of the two cut up and sold as one and the same. — 

 (Proc. Linn. Soc, F,S.W., 1S96. p. 809.) 



In my " Useful Native Plants of Australia" (1889) occurs the note : — 



" Cut-tail " grows with a straight bole over 200 feet high, and w ith a diameter of 6 to 8 feet. Its 

 wood is fissile in the highest degree, since it can be readily split almost to the thinness of paper. A 

 sample of this timber from Haydon's Bog, neai- Delegate, cut in March, 1885, is in the Technological 

 Museum. It is very straight in the grain (as might be expected), and very easy to work. 



I have since examined other specimens, and find that, while the timber 

 of some trees is not markedly fissile, B. fastiyata may have timber as fissile as that 

 of the Victorian tree. 



Mr. Deane and I wrote {ib. 1899, p. 459) :— 



Our E. fastigata is a tree with a fibrous bark, not to be distinguished in this respect from E. obliqua, 

 except in the smooth branchlets of the former. Mueller described his reguans as a smooth-barked tree ; 

 the fruit of our fastigata (from Mount Tantawanglo) is smaller than that of E. reguans, and there are 

 other differences, of more or less value, which caused us to look upon our tree as new to science. 



We have since .studied the distribution of E. faxtigala, and find that it is very widely diffused 

 in New South Wales. 



Contemplation of these specimens (for the most part collected by ourselves), and inspection of 

 E. regnans as it grows in Victoria, incline us to the opinion that our E. fastigata may not be specifically 

 different fiom E. regnans. Mueller's description of his species would require to be modified in the specially 

 important matter (in the case of a Eucalypt) of the bark, while the size of the fruit, and other minor 

 matters in which the published descriptions of E. regnans and E. fastigata do not agree, may not present 

 insuperable obstacles to the fusion of the two species. 



I have since continued to bear the Victorian and New South Wales trees 

 under observation, and now state without hesitation that K fastigata is but a form 

 of £!. regnans. I cannot even look upon it as a variety. Examination of Mueller's 

 series of statements referring to the bark of B. regnans shows that he was alive to 

 the fact that his species might be fibrous-barked. The smaller size of the fruit in 

 fastigata is one not to be relied upon, as I find that those of normal regnaiis vary in 

 size. Mueller, indeed, insists on the small fruits of his regnans, and I have fruits 

 quite as small as I have ever seen in fastigata. 



