277 



These specimens are identical, have blunt buds, and in every respect are 

 E. obtusi flora, DC. 



I have described variety obtusiflora at page 85, Part xxv, of my " Forest Flora 



of New South Wales," in the following words: — 



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



Juvenile leaves. — Broadlv lanceolate, somewhat similar in shape to the adult leaves, only larger. 

 Approximate dimensions — 4 to 6 inches long by 1] inch broad. 



Mature leaves. — Rigid, very coriaceous, ovate-lanceolate, slightly oblique, leaves sometimes blunt, 

 sometimes hooked; rarely 1 inch wide (usually f) and up to 4 inches or a little more long. The venation 

 marked.* Colour of leaf pale or yellowish-green, often glossy, and the margin often reddish. The intra- 

 marginal vein some distance from the margin. The transverse veins starting out at a fairly uniform angle 

 to the midrib. As Bentham puts it (B.F1. iii, 189) : " Leaf veins not close, often very oblique, but all 

 inserted along the midrib." 



Buds clavate and umbonate, even-pointed, f Some specimens from Botany and National Park 

 have the operculum hemispherical, apparently without sign of umbo. This form frequently shows the 

 double operculum. • 



Floicers. — The peduncles somewhat angular ; calyx-tube short and broad (Bentham), but this is 

 not a constant character. 



Fruits. — 4- to 5-celled, flat-topped, wrinkled, brown and shiny, like E. Luehmanniana, but smaller. 

 Some specimens from Loftus have slightly urceolate 4-celled fruits, which have thin rims, and are depressed, t 



2. Var. stricta, Maiden (E. stricta, Sieb.). 



The original description of E. stricta, Sieb. (in Sprengel's Cur. Post., 195, 1827), 

 is as follows: — 



E. operculo submutico pedunculis lateralibus 2-floris foliis linearibus acutis coriaceis glabris sub- 

 punctatis. 



See also De Candolle's figure in Mem. Myrt. t. 8 (" the anthers incorrect," 

 Bentham). The type is Sieber's PI. Exs. No. 472, and it is more fully described in DC. 

 Prod, iii, 218. 



I have described this variety at page 86, Part xxv, of my " Forest Flora of New 

 South Wales," in the following words: — ■ 



This is the Scrubby Gum of the Blue Mountains, a dwarf gum, very abundant on the higher parts 

 of the Blue Mountains and other elevated parts of the State, where it often forms an almost impenetrable 

 scrub. On the bleakest parts of our ranges, up to between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, this dwarf gum luxuriates. 

 It is often looked upon as mallee, but it is not one of the true mallee species of the drier parts of this and 

 other States, which have thickened root stocks. It is strict (erect) in its habit; hence the specific name. 



It is too small for timber. Height from 6 to 15 feet, with bark falling off in strips, leaving smooth 

 stems and timber pale-coloured. 



Juvenile leaves. — Lanceolate, erect, equally green (bright or sap-green) on both sides. The oil-dots 

 on the juvenile foliage are well marked. The young twigs are reddish, with tubercles of a darker colour. 



* This is especially the ease where the trees grow close to the coast. 



■j- It is quite impossible to take the bluntness of the buds (on which the species name was given) as a character. The 

 transition in this and other respects to typical E. virgata, Sieb., is perfect. 



X Some fruits from Botany are almost hemispherical and 5-celled; they are apparently a connecting link with E. 

 stricta. I am of opinion that it is not possible to discriminate between some forms of stricta and obtusiflora without fruits. 



