EUCALYPTUS SANTALIFOLIA. 



I". V. M., in the transactions of the Yictorian Institute i. 35 (1854) ; Miquel, in Nederlandisk Kruid-Kundig 

 Archief iv. 133 ; Bentham, flora Australiensis, iii. 206 ; E. pachyloma, Bentham, flora Australiensis iii. 237; 

 E. diversifolia, Bonpland, description des plantes rares cultiv6es a Malmaison et a NaTarre 35 1. 13 ; De CandoUe, 

 prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis iii. 220. 



Shrutby ; braDchlets firm, angular ; leaves scattered, of thick consistence, narroTV- or rarely 

 broad-lanceolar, almost straight or somewhat curved, of equal color and shining on both sides, 

 moderately or short stalked ; their veins very faint, almost obliterated, neither crowded nor very 

 spreading, the circumferential vein distant from the edge of the leaf; oil-dots exceedingly 

 numerous, but concealed ; umbels solitary and axillary, but soon lateral, containing 3-5 or rarely 

 6—8 flowers ; stalks scarcely or somewhat angular, not much longer than the calyces ; stalklets 

 extremely short or almost none ; tube of the calyx nearly hemispherical, somewhat shorter than 

 the semiovate-conical lid ; stamens all fertile ; filaments ascendent, not inflexed before expansion; 

 anthers roundish-cordate, opening in front with longitudinal at the summit convergent slits*; 

 stigma not broader than the style ; fruit depressed-globular, discal summit very convex and finally 

 far-protruding or sometimes rather depressed, always occupying a broad space between the valves 

 and the margin of the calyx-tube ; valves 3-4 or occasionally 5, exserted, short, mostly deltoid ; 

 sterile seeds broad, nearly as large as the fertile seeds, the latter few, sharply angular and very 

 slightly membranous at their edges. 



In sandy desert-country as also in scrubby valleys or on arid ridges near King George's 

 Sound (Drummond), on the Williams-Eiver (Webb), near the Kalgan-Eiver (Oldfield), at the 

 base of the Stirling-Eanges (F. v. M.), at Venus-Bay (Clode), in various localities near Spencer's 

 Gulf (Wilhelmi), in the vicinity of Lake Albert (Irvine), on Kangaroo-Island (Waterhouse), 

 occupying there calcareous ridges (Tate). 



A tall shrub, fruiting however already at 5 feet, restricted to regions near the coast. The 

 large and crowded oil-pores of the leaves well visible only after the removal of the cuticle. 

 Flower-stalks and -stalklets variable in thickness, but never very slender, the former exceptionally 

 somewhat compressed. Filaments whitish. Aged fruit not shining, slightly rough, the protruding 

 summit sometimes forming fully half the fruit. Valves shorter than the space intervening 

 between them and the edge of the calyx-tube, often very considerably so. 



The approximate conformity of the fertile and sterile seeds is that of the Renantherse or 

 generality of Stringybark-trees, notwithstanding the cordate anthers, a remark applying also to 

 E. Preissiana. The size and structure of the fruit bring E. santalifolia only near E. macrorr- 

 hyncha and E. capitellata, that of E. Oldfieldii being larger and also less similar on account of 

 its prominent edge. 



E. santalifolia and E. pachyloma, though placed widely apart and into diiferent sections of 

 his anthereal system by Bentham, are, so far as I can judge, quite identical. 



The name of E. diversifolia, given by Bonpland, had to be discarded, although he described 

 the species already in 1813, and had it illustrated by Bessa simultaneously; — ^because the plant 

 as defined by him represents that very young state in which, as in most species of Eucalyptus, 

 the leaves pass from the broad form of juvenile plants into the narrow shape of the leaves, normal 

 for adult trees. The illustration indicates well, that the leaves of the young seedlings are opposite 

 sessile and oval, a sort of characteristic, which is particularly applicable for the discrimination of 

 specific forms also in this genus. 



