133 



DESCRIPTION. 



CXLIII. E. ovata Labill. 



Nov. Holl. PL ii with t. 153 (1806). 

 Following is a translation of the original :— 



Operculum hemispherical and mucronulate ; umbels lateral and terminal ; peduncles and branchlets 

 somewhat round ; fruit hemispherical. 



A shrub a fathom and a half high and more, with alternate, ovate, coriaceous, quite entire or notched 

 leaves, the uppermost ones especially, somewhat acuminate. Flowers umbellate on short pedicels on a 

 somewhat round common peduncle slightly shorter, the petiole half-round. The style shorter than 

 the stamens, the stigma somewhat capitate. Capsule hemispherical, rather sunk, 4-celled. Habitat in 

 Van-Leuwin. 



It differs from E. haemastoma especially in the leaves and peduncles of the umbels, and from E. 

 piperita, which in other respects is the nearest tree in the position of the umbels and in the peduncles of 

 the same. 



A shrub was the type ; it attains the height of a medium- sized tree. 



The comparisons with E. haemastoma and E. piperita mean little to-day; they 

 were two of the very few species available for comparison in Labillardiere's day. 



In the plate (see Fig. la, Plate 113) the artist Eedoute has exaggerated the 

 crenulation of the leaf-margins. He has committed a similar fault in the figure of 

 E. cordata Labill. 



Labilladiere says, " In terra Van Leuwin," a slip of the pen for " Van Diemen." 

 Bentham, however, assuming that the locality is Cape Leeuwin, says (B.F1. iii, 200) 

 . . , . " from West Australia. Does not occur in the distributed sets of 

 Labillardiere's plants I have seen. From the figure it appears probable that the specimen 

 represented was an adventitious branch, with much broader leaves than the ordinary 

 flowering ones. It is very likely, therefore, a form of some one of the described western 

 species, possibly E. brachypoda." 



This error of locality is corrected in specimens collected by Labillardiere, which 

 are labelled " E, ovata Labill., Terre de Diemen, Museum de Paris, 1821," which I 

 have seen. 



Then we have De Candolle's description :— > 



18. E. ovata (Labill., l.e.p. 13, t. 153) operculo hemisphaerico mucronulato cupula breviore, 

 pedunculis axillaribus aut subterminalibus subteretibus petiolo brevioribus, floribus 3-5 eapitatis, foliis 

 ovatis mucronatis subcrenatis. In terra Van Leuwin. Folia coriacea, alia integerrima, alia irregulariter 

 sub-crenata. E. mucronala Link Enum. Hort. Berol. 2, p. 30 ex specimene a el. Otto miss. E. androsemifolia 

 Hoffmann's verz. 1826. Folia petiolo semipollic, limbo 3-1 poll, longo 1-2 lato (v.s, sine fl.) (DC. Prod. 

 iii, 218.). 



