EUCALYPTUS SALIGNA. 



Smitl, in tte Tranaactions of tlie Linnean Society iii. 285 (1795) ; Eippist, in F. M. fragmenta phytographise 

 Australiae ii. 173 (1861) ; Bentham, flora Australiensis iii. 245. 



Tall ; branchlets angular ; leaves scattered, broad- or oftener elongated- or narrow-lanceolar, 

 gradually acuminated, somewliat curved, paler beneath ; the lateral veins quite numerous, subtle 

 and almost transversely spreading, the two longitudinal veins only slightly or hardly removed 

 from the edge ; oil-dots numerous, but much concealed ; umbels axillary or lateral, rarely 

 paniculate, on a broadly compressed stalk, consisting of 4-8, rarely 9-13 flowers ; calyces on very 

 short thick stalklets or almost sessile, their tube bellshaped- or turbinate-obconical, about as long as 

 the hemispheric short-acuminated lid, often faintly biangular ; stamens all perfect, inflesed while 

 in bud ; anthers oval, opening with longitudinal almost parallel slits ; stigma hardly broader than 

 the summit of the style ; fruit bellshaped- or conical-semiovate, truncate, 3-5 celled ; rim narrow, 

 descendent ; valves short, semiexsei-ted ; seeds without any expanding membrane. 



In New South Wales and the most southern part of Queensland, chiefly along banks of 

 sylvan streams, also on the outskirts of forests. 



A tree attaining a lofty height, passing locally as Blue-, White-, Grey- or Flooded-Gum- 

 tree ; bark grey and smooth from gradual decortication of the outer layers. According to Mr. 

 Fawcett the straightness of the stem renders it fit for spars, while Dr. Woolls calls the wood 

 splendid and states, that it is largely utilized for ship-building ; other data pronounce it an inferior 

 wood, and this discrepancy may be reconciled by local diversities of the ground, from which the 

 particular timber was obtained. This species differs from E. resinifera, irrespective of the nature 

 of its wood, in the almost complete smoothness of its bark, smaller flowers and fruits both on 

 shorter stalklets, proportionately abbreviated lid, style and valves, and not distinctly ring-like rim 

 of the fruit. 



Somewhat longer and besides narrower fruits occur, than those here illustrated, others again 

 more top-shaped. The lid is occasionally also more pointed, than shown in our lithogram. The 

 calyces are usually shining, more rarely tinged with a whitish bloom. The leaves in the drawing, 

 as now printed, have obtained an appearance rather too prominently veined ; moreover the 

 secondary veins render in reality the primary venation closer, than given in our j)late. The bark is 

 more or less shining, but rough old layers may persist up to a dozen feet at the base of the stem. 

 The Eev. Dr. Woolls (Contributions to the Flora of Australia, p. 237, anno 1867) saw stems, 

 attaining 7 feet in diameter, found the tree growing rapidly and mentions the specific gravity of the 

 wood as less than that of most other Eucalypts. The occurrence of this tree iadicates good soil. 



The founder of the Linnean Society, when establishing this species, attributed to it narrower 

 and thinner leaves and smaller flowers than those of any other species known at the time (viz., 

 E. robusta, E. pilularis, E. tereticornis, E. resinifera, E. capitellata, E. botryoides, E. ha3mastoma, 

 E. piperita, E. obliqua, E. corymbosa, E. paniculata), but this remark does not apply to the 

 more general state of this tree, as figured here. The specific appellation is supposed to allude 

 to the resemblance of the leaves to those of some willows, but this similarity is not sufiiciently 

 marked to be acceptable for a vernacular name. 



I am not certain of the form of the leaves characteristic of the seedlings of this species in 

 the first and second year of their growth ; their shape should be studied at all available oppor- 

 tunities ; observations to tliis effect, commenced l)y me in the Botanic Garden, came long since to 

 an abrupt close, and could since methodically not yet be resumed. 



