EUCALYPTUS PELTATA. 



Bentham, flora Australiensis iii. 254 (18fi6). 



Arboreous ; branchlets and leafstalks rough from very minute partly bristly projections ; leaves 

 mostly inserted above their rounded base, scattered, of firm consistence, lanceolar- or round ish-oval, 

 of equal and rather pale color on both sides, not or hardly shining ; their lateral veins prominent, 

 pennately spreading, but not of close approach, the circumferential vein somewhat removed from 

 the margin ; oil-dots copious, but subtle and much concealed ; panicles terminal and axillary ; 

 umbels generally 5-7-flowered, on rather slender and somewhat angular stalks ; stalklets very 

 short or none; lid double, pyramidal-hemispheric, about as long as the semi-ovate or truncate- 

 ovate faintly angular tube of the calyx or to doubly shorter, the inner lid shining, the outer hardly 

 or slowly separating ; stamens all fertile, inflexed before expansion ; anthers oblong-oval, opening 

 by parallel slits ; stigma not dilated ; fruits rather small, semiovate, slightly constricted below 

 the summit, mostly 3-celled ; rim narrow, prominent ; valves deltoid, quite enclosed ; seeds 

 without any appendage. 



On porphyritic mountains at the sources of the Burdekin-, Lynd- and Gilbert -Rivers 

 (F. V. M.) ; on granite-hills near Charters-Towers in the auriferous formation (Revd. Jul. Tenison- 

 Woods) ; at Ravenswood near the Burdekin-River (S. Johnson). 



A small or middle-sized tree, with a straight trunk seldom above 1 5 feet long or more than 

 18 inches in diameter, with a spreading rather dense top (Johnson) ; foliage drooping, the greatest 

 height of the whole tree about 30 feet (Tenison-Woods). Bark everywhere persistent, lamellar, 

 very brittle, somewhat shining and brownish- or pale-yellowish, the color of the bark having 

 originated the curious vernacular of " Yellow-jacket " for this tree. Wood valued by artisans for 

 various purposes, but seemingly nowhere extensively available. Leaves of also the aged tree fixed 

 above their base (in the manner of the leaves of seedlings or young saplings of E. calophylla and 

 E. citriodora), though on specimens of our collections occasionally a leaf occurs with basal 

 insertion ; their length and still more so their width variable ; when dry they are not very 

 odorous ; their midrib and some of the lateral nerves more or less rough. General flowerstalks 

 often rough, but the umbels and their ultimate stalks smooth. Flowers comparatively small. 

 Tube of the calyces as well as the umbel-stalks not rarely covered with a whitish bloom. Lids 

 always brown, shining, smooth. Fruits verging somewhat to a bellshaped form. Angles of the 

 placentas prominent. Ripe fertile seeds have not yet come under observation. 



In many of its characteristics, especially the form of its fruits, B. peltata approaches to 

 E. latifolia, but the latter is smooth-barked, its leaves are partly almost opposite and always 

 attenuated with an acute base into their stalk, the lateral veins less prominent, the reticulations 

 of the veinlets also less visible, while the marginal vein is almost confluent with the edge of the 

 leaves, the stalklets of the flowers are of conspicuous length, the lid is single and separates by a 

 less regularly marked dehiscence, and the brownish roughness of the branchlets and foliage is 

 absent, in which latter respects an approach of E. peltata to E. ferruginea, E. aspera, E. setosa and 

 E. clavigera is established. 



Perhaps E. peltata will require to be placed nearest to B. Torelliana, although the latter 

 stands on record as one of the tallest forest-trees near Rockingham-Bay, with a " bark smooth 

 as glass " ; moreover the hairiness of its branchlets and leaf-stalks is more conspicuous, all its 

 leaves are of completely basal insertion and evidently paler beneath, therefore their stomata are 

 not isogenous, but — as tabulated before — heterogenous ; the flowers and fruits may also prove 



