167 



DESCRIPTION. 



CXLVIII. E. viminalis Labillardiere. 



Nov. Holl. PI. ii, 12, with plate 151 (1806). 

 Following is the original :— 



"Eucalyptus operculo subhernispluerico, mucronato; foliis lineari-lanceolatis; capitulis trifiori8, 

 lateralibus. Arbor mediocris altitudine, rainulis apice angulosis. Folia lineari-lanceolata acuminata, 

 nervulis vix conspicuis, palmaria ad spithamea ; petiolata, alterna. Flores communi pedunculo axillaii ) 

 subancipiti, vix petiolorum longitudine, saepius tres cruciatim dispositi, centralis pedicello longiori 

 cseteroruin. Calyx senii-globosus, operculo paululum eodem breviori, coriaceo. Stylus brevior, staminibus, 

 stigmate subcapitato. Capsula globosa, calyce corticata, semitecta, tri ad quadrilocularis. Alias ut in 

 specie pnecedenti. Habitat in capite Van-Diemen." 



The descriptions in English in the Flora Australiensis and Eucalyptographia 

 can be accepted as correct, and there is an excellent figure in the latter work, but the 

 synonymy quoted by Bentham and copied by Mueller is considerably incorrect as 

 will be shown presently, and also under " Synonyms." The cause of the trouble has 

 been too great reliance on dried, imperfect specimens. Those of us who have come 

 later have had opportunities of studying the various forms in the field. 



I will quote and briefly discuss a number of references to this species in works 

 chiefly quoted by Bentham in B.Fl. iii, 239 : — 



1 and 2. Neither Sprengel, Systema Vegetabilium ii, 501 (1825) (not 505 as 

 quoted in " Eucalyptographia ") nor DC. Prod, iii, 218, both brief Latin descriptions, 

 add anything to Labillardiere. 



3. Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. i, 134. It is not figured in this work, but Gunn's 685, 

 1083, 1085, 1090, 1092, are quoted. 



Hooker speaks of it as abundant throughout Tasmania, ascending to 4,000 feet 

 and forming " a middling-sized tree 60 feet high." 



The peduncles " bear three, rarely four or more flowers . . . Australian 

 specimens have often more than three flowers on each peduncle." 



4. Miq. in Ned. Kruidk. Arch, iv, 125 ; (see E. saccharifera F.v.M. below). 



5. F. Muell. Fragm. ii, 64, is a recapitulatory account of the species. 



Howitt says (Trans. Roy. Soc. Vict, ii, 97, 1890), " My observation has shown 

 me that there are at least three Eucalypts which may be assigned to the type of 

 E. viminalis." He goes on to say :— 



(a) The typical form of E. viminalis in Gippsland is the so-called " white gum," or " river gum," 

 •which grows along the immediate courses of streams. It may, for insvr.nce, be seen along the Glengarry, 

 Thompson, Mitchell, and other r'vors. 



