249 



DESCRIPTION. 



XCVIIL E. globulus, Labillardiere. 



Ts " Relation du Voyage a la llecherche de la Perouse," &c, i, 153 (1799), with. 

 Plate 13 of the Atlas (1811). 



There is an English translation of this work, entitled " Voyage in Search of 

 La Perouse," &e., with the illustrations of the original reduced. At page 111 is 

 Labillardiere's account of the tree, which I reproduce herewith : — 



I had not as yet been able to procure any of the flowers of a new species of the Eucalyptus, 

 remaikable by its fruit, which very much resembles a coat button in shape. 



This tree, -which is one of the tallest in nature, as it grows sometimes to the height of 150 feet, 

 blossoms only near its summit. Its trunk exactly resembles that of the Eucalyptus resinifera, when its spongy 

 bark has been peeled off. In other respects these two species are nearly of the same dimensions. The 

 trunk, which is very straight, at least to one-half of its height, might be usefully employed in ship-building, 

 and especially for masts, although it is neither so light nor so elastic as that of the Fir. Possibly it might be 

 of advantage to construct masts of different pieces of timber, and even to perforate the large trunks of 

 trees throughout their whole length, so as to render them lighter, and give them equal strength by binding 

 them at equal distances with hoops of iron. By this means I should think they might be rendered as 

 strong as one could wish, since persons versed in mechanics know that a cylinder, though hollow, still retains 

 a great degree of strength. We were obliged to cut down one of these trees in order to obtain its blossoms. 

 Being already in a slanting position, it was easily felled. As the sun shone very bright, the sap was 

 mounting in abundance, and as soon as the tree was cut down it flowed very copiously from the lower part 

 of the trunk. This beautiful tree, which belongs to the tribe of the Myrtles, has a very smooth bark ; its 

 branches are somewhat crooked, and have toward their extremity alternate leaves, slightly bent, and about 

 6 inches in length, and one-half in breadth. The flowers are solitary, and grow from the base of the stalk 

 of the leaf. 



The calyx is shaped like an inverted urn, and consists, like that of the genera of the same tribe, of 

 a single leaf, which falls off as soon as the stamina are completely formed. It has no corolla. The stamina 

 are numerous and attached to the sides of the receptacle. The style is simple and divided at its base into 

 four partitions. It has only one stigma. The capsule is open at the top, and generally divided into four 

 partitions, which contain a number of angular seeds ; at the base it has four angles, two of which project 

 from the rest. It is shaped like a button, on which account I have denominated this tree Eucalyptus 

 globulus. 



Explanation of the Figures in Plate XIII. 



Fig. 1. Branch of Eucalyptus globulus. 

 Fig. 2. Flower. 

 Fig. 3. Fruit. 

 Fig. 4. Calyx. 



The bark, leaves and fruit of this tree are of an aromatic nature, and might be employed for 

 economical uses in the place of those aromatics with which we have hitherto been furnished exclusively by 

 the Molucca Islands. 



Then we have it more formally described by Labillardiere in his " Novae 

 Hollandise Plantarum Specimen," ii, 121 (1806), in the following words : — 



Eucalyptus operculo conico, medio constricto, calycis tetragoni latitudine ; foliis subfalcatis, axillis 

 unifloris. Habitat in capite Van Diemen (it not having been ascertained at that time that Tasmania is 

 an island). 



