52 



Sydney District. — Port Jackson (Robert Brown), 1802-5, No. 4,751 ; Mrs. 

 Macquarie's Chair, Outer Domain (J. H. Camfield) ; Mosman's Bay (Rev. J. W. 

 Dwyer) ; Manly (Rev. Dr. Woolls) ; Concord ( J.H.M.) ; Rockdale (H. Deane, J. H. 

 Camfield) ; Botany (H. Deane) ; La Perouse (J.H.M.) ; with pointed opercula. 

 Kurnell (J. L. Boorman) ; National Park (J. L. Boorman). 



Northern Localities. — Sandgate, Newcastle (Jesse Gregson); in patches on 

 the ridges near Port Stephens (W. R. Stacy). 



AFFINITIES. 



1. With E. saligna Sm. 



We have here one of the most instructive examples I know of, in which two 

 species, reputedly well known, run into each other. I cannot separate some of the 

 forms, and therefore there is much to be said for my view to make one a variety 

 of the other. On the other hand, there is much to be said for the view that the two 

 ends of the series should be looked upon as distinct species, viz., saligna and 

 botryoides. The more I examine the position, the more I am puzzled, and as a 

 matter of pure expediency I separate the two so-called species in this Part. 



I reprint part of my paper in Proc. Linn. Soo. N.S.W., xxx, 502 (1905), 

 with some unimportant additions : — 



E. saligna Sm., and E. botryoides Sm. {E. botryoides Sm. = E. saligna Sm. var. botryoides, var. nov.). 



I propose to show that the above two species are conspecific. Their affinity long ago impressed 

 me. In 1889* I wrote, "In external appearance and timber it (E. botryoides) seems to merge into 

 E. saligna." I have examined the trees for many years, latterly with Mr. R. H. Cambage, to settle this 

 one point, i.e., is there any character to separate the species? To carry out this work we chose (amongst 

 other localities) the Brisbane Water (N.S.W.) district, which is the home of typical " Blue Gum " 

 (E. saligna), and the Otford (Stanwell Park) district, in which typical E. botryoides is abundant. 



We found E. saligna with rough bark up to the first fork, and even higher up, in shallow valleys 

 facing the sea, e.g., at Kincumber, Brisbane Water. From the Blue Gum flats (with good soil) in the 

 neighbourhood, with their typical examples of the species, as we approach the sea and the innutritious 

 sandy soil and strong sea breezes, we find that the rough bark gradually creeps up the butt, and the 

 trees themselves become more crooked, and even gnarled, finally merging into E. botryoides. The same 

 thing was noticed in southern localities. 



The following states the case in regard to typical specimens : — 



"The differences between E. saligna and E. botryoides are habitually very great on account of 

 their respective bark — thin, smooth, and pale in the one ; thick, rough, and dark in the other ; but the 

 characteristics of the flowers and fruits are far less marked, being almost reduced in E. botryoides to a 

 shorter and blunter lid, an usually more angular tube of the calyx, and retracted totally enclosed valves of 

 the fruit." (Eucalyptographia, Mueller, under E. saligna.) 



In the same work, under E. botryoides, he says : — " When the tree has arisen on rich soil along 

 running streams, its wood is regarded as one of the best among those of Eucalypts. . . . [this is E. 

 saligna. — J.H.M.] ; when the tree grows on the coast sands, its wood is still useful for sawing and fencing, 

 though the stems occur there often gnarled. . . . [this is E. botryoides. — J. H.M.I. E. saligna is in 

 nature easily enough distinguished by the smoothness of its bark, which secedes in its outer layers 

 successively ; otherwise the differences are slight, consisting in the often somewhat longer lid, and in 

 fruits with half exserted valves." 



•" Useful Native Plants of Australia," p. 435. 



