193 



E. saligna is a Blue Gum and a very straight tree, a lover of the shelter and 

 moisture of gullies, good soil and general good conditions are necessary for its proper 

 development. Its trunk is usually quite smooth, with the exception of a little rough 

 bark at the butt. 



E. propinqua is more spreading, has the bark in patches and timber of a 

 darker red. 



As compared with E. saligna the leaves are usually smaller and the venation 

 finer and more parallel, the operculum is less drawn out to a beak, the calyx and 

 operculum being far more globular and also smaller ; the operculum is also more dome- 

 shaped. 



The fruits of E. saligna (compare Plates 99 and 100) are larger, those of E. saligna 

 are more sessile and cylindroid; those of E. propinqua are more hemispherical, and 

 have a well-defined rim. 



3. With E. viminalis Labill. 



This species, being well diffused and somewhat variable, has been used as a sort 

 of residuary legatee both by Bentham and Mueller, for a number of forms puzzling at 

 the time. E. propinqua was by both of them referred to E. viminalis (as well as to 

 E. saligna). 



E. viminalis is a white or ribbony gum, with white or pale-coloured inferior 

 timber. It grows in moist places. E. propinqua is a grey gum, with deep red durable 

 timber. It grows in dry situations. 



The juvenile foliage of E. viminalis is usually much in evidence, that of E. 

 propinqua is much less seen, and usually shorter and broader. Both in the juvenile 

 and mature stages the foliage of E. propinqua has the venation finer and more parallel 

 than in E. viminalis ; the intramarginal vein is also closer to the edge in E. propinqua. 



With important exceptions, the flowers of E. viminalis are usually in threes; 

 it would appear that those of E. propinqua are never in threes. 



The fruit of E. propinqua is smaller, more hemispherical, less domed, and with 

 the valves usually much less exserted than in E. viminalis. 



