270 



In Sieber's Cur. Post, they are described on the same page, and virgata is put 

 before stricta only for the reason that, in a former portion of his work, virgata, in his 

 opinion, comes "post No. 11" (capitellata, Sm.), and stricta comes "post No. 14" 

 (pulverulenta, Ker.). 



But, because on the same page, virgata is described in the paragraph immediately 

 preceding stricta, virgata is technically the older name,* and, if one of these two is to 

 go, stricta must be suppressed. So that if I prove that E. virgata and E. stricta are 

 conspecific, the latter name must give way to the former. 



The description of E. virgata, as given at page 85, Part xxv, of my " Forest Flora 



of New South Wales," may be repeated here: — 



An erect shrub or small tree, smooth, or with a little ribbony bark, and pale-coloured wood. 



Juvenile leaves. — Glaucous, lanceolate or narrow-elliptical. 



Mature leaves. — Slightly falcate, lanceolate, tapering to a fine point, 3 to 6 inches (commonly 4 inches) 

 long, with a twisted petiole of half an inch. Texture thick, very coriaceous, equally green and shining on 

 both sides, the midrib and primary veins often strongly marked. Intramarginal vein not far removed 

 from the edge. 



Buds. — Angular, operculum pointed, calyx gradually tapering into a flattened peduncle. 



Flowers. — Usually six to ten in the head, the former being a common number. Anthers reniform. 



Fruitsf. — Sub-cylindrical, about § inch in diameter, and about f inch in length, to the commence- 

 ment of the short petiole. Rim broadish, flat-topped, or slightly sunk. 



1. Var. obtusiflora, Maiden (E. obtusiflora, DC). 



E. obtusiflora, DC, was first described in Prod, iii, 220, in the following words: — 

 Operculo hemisphaerico obtusissimo cupula obovata breviore, pedunculis subangulatis axillaribus 

 petioli longitudine, floribus 4-5 capitatis foliis lanceolatis mucronatis basi aequaliter attenuatis coriaceo- 

 crassiusculis. In Nova Hollandia ad oram orientalem. Priori valdc affinis et forsan varietas. Differt 

 floribus majoribus, calyce potius obovata quam turbinato, operculo obtusiore, foliis latioribus. Mucro 

 folii ut in priore crassiusculus deciduus. 



Although A. P. De Candolle, in that work, does not specifically mention the 

 number of Sieber's PI. Exs. referred to, his posthumous work (Memoire sur la Famille 

 des Myrtacees, Geneve, 1842) gives a figure of the plant, which places its identity beyond 

 question. 



An original specimen of Sieber's No. 473, in Herb. Barbey Boissier, bears the 

 MS. label: — " Eucalyptus piperita, Sm., De la nouvelle Hollande, M. Sieber, 1825." 



A second specimen in the same herbarium (without an original label) bears the 

 label: — " No. 472, Eucalyptus stricta, Sieber, N. Holl." 



* " Of names published in the same work and at the same time, those having precedence of position are to be 

 regarded as having priority." (Canon 13 of the Code of Botanical Nomenclature proposed by the Nomenclature Commission 

 of the Botanical Club of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.) See Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical 

 Club, xxxi, 254 (1904). The canon was apparently ignored by the Vienna International Congress on Botanical Nomen- 

 clature, 1905. 



t Although fruits were not preserved with the types of either E. virgata or E. obtusiflora, there is no doubt that most 

 of the fruits of the pointed operculum series (virgata) are more sub-cylindrical than those of the hemispherical or blunt 

 operculum series (obtusiflora), but nearly hemispherical fruits are found on plants of virgata, while sub-cylindrical fruits 

 are found on plants of obtusiflora. 



