DESCRIPTION. 



CXXV. E. robusta Smith. 



In Zoology and. Botany of New Holland by GL Shaw and James Edward Smith, 



Vol. i, pp. 39, 40, 1793, with Tab. xiii. 



Following is a copy of the original, which I reprint because the work is rare, and 

 the description is instructive : — 



Eucalyptus robusta 



Brown Gum Tree, or New Holland Mahogany. 



Icosandria Monogynia. 

 Gen. Char. Cal. superus, persistans, truneatus, ante anthesin tectus operculo integerrimo, deciduo. 



Cor. nulla. Caps, quadrilocularis, apice dehiscens, polysperma. 

 Cal. superior, permanent, truncated, covered before flowering with an entire lid, soon falling off. Cor. 



none. Gaps, of -1 cells, opening at the top, containing many seeds. 

 Spec. Char. E. operculo conico medio constricto, unibellis lateralibus terminalibusque ; pedunculis 



pedicellisque compressis. 

 Lid conical, contracted in the middle. Umbels lateral and terminal ; general and partial flower-stalks 

 compressed. 

 Eucalyptus robusta is one of the largest and loftiest of trees, frequently 100 feet in height ; its 

 wood hard, heavy and strong, of a reddish colour, and abounding with resin. Branches round below, 

 covered with smooth bark, very angular towards the extremity. Leaves alternate, on foot-stalks, firm, 

 smooth, with a strong rib and fine parallel veins, ovate, pointed, entire, generally oblique, and often a 

 little unequal at the base, but not universally so. Stipulae none. Umbels on flower-stalks frequently from 

 the axillae of the leaves, and solitary, sometimes two or more together, forming a sort of alternate racemus, 

 and sometimes such racemi terminate the branches. Bracleae none. General floiver-stalk an inch or more 

 in length, compressed, two-edged, dilated upwards ; partial ones about eight or ten together, nearly of the 

 same form, but much shorter, single-flowered, dilated into the base of the calyx. Flowers yellowish, 

 occasionally with a red tinge. Calyx obconical, sometimes round, often two, or even four-edged, entire ; 

 lid rather more than equal to it in length, swelling above the base, then suddenly contracted, and 

 terminating in a blunt, slightly curved, conical point. "When the lid falls off, it discloses numerous 

 stamina, which soon spread very wide. The style stands on four cross ribs in the centre of the flower, 

 which crown the germen • it is club-shaped, compressed or angular ; stigma simple ; germen in the bottom 

 of the calyx. We have not seen the fruit ripe. Every part of this plant, and indeed of every other 

 Eucalyptus we have examined, is void of all pubescence. This is not so highly aromatic as some other 

 species, though very perceptibly so when rubbed, and it is likewise astringent and acrid. Its resin is an 

 inferior sort of red gum, of a brown hue. The size and strength of the tree, like that of the European 

 Quercus Bobur, seem particularly to justify the name robusta. 



Explanation of Tab. xiii. 



1. A young flower. 2. Calyx. 3. Lid. 1. Stamina not full grown. 5. A complete stamen. 

 6. Style. 



The original figure is excellent, and a portion of it is reproduced at fig. 1, 

 Plate 97. 



Sir J. E. Smith redescribed it iu Trans. Linn. Soc. iii, 283 (1797), in the 

 following words : — 



Operculo conico medio constricto calyce latiori, unibellis lateralibus terminalibusque foliis ovatis 

 E. robusta " Bot.. of New Holland, 10, t. 13." This is called the Brown gum tree, or New Holland 



