DESCRIPTION. 



CL XVIII. E. ro strata Schlechtencial. 



In Linncea xx, 655 (1847). 



Following is a translation of the not easily accessible, and not entirely satisfactory, 

 original description : — 



Branches slender, and, like the remainder of the parts, glabrous, the ends angular, the remainder 

 terete : bark pale -coloured. The few-flowered, pedunculate umbels (umbelliform cymes they should 

 rather be called) are borne in the branchlets of the first year's growth in the lowest axils of the leaves : 

 by non-development of the apex or terminal bud of the flower-bearing branch, the flowering of the terminal 

 or axillary inflorescence characterises the species, and forms a compound panicle out of alternate umbels 

 as we have somewhat frequently seen. Leaves coriaceous, with a paler mid-rib, the lateral veins of which 

 join it to a thin vein running close to the somewhat thick margin, so that the obsolete glands on each side 

 of the leaf, which is the same colour on both sides and glaucous, can only be observed by the aid of a lens- 

 Petiole 4-6 lines long: the blade (4-5 inches long, including the petiole, and 5-8 lines broad) in the lower 

 part a little broader, tapering into the base, and gradually narrowed into a very acute point at the apex, 

 inequilateral and slightly falcate. Umbels axillary, 2-5 flowered, the common peduncle 2 or 3 times longer 

 than the pedicels, which are about 3 lines long. Bud as long as the pedicel, fhe calyx-tube semi-globular, 

 operculum depressed-semi-globular, subulate-rostrate, rostrum 1|- lines long. Stamens longer than the 

 calyx-tube, pistil angular, the apex obtuse bearing the stigma, shorter than the stamens. (The Latin 

 ends here). 



On the banks of brooks and rivers (White Gum of the colonists). A large tree with white bark 

 (German in original). 



It was then described by Bentham in B. Fl. iii, 240, and also by Mueller in 

 " Euealyptographia," with a plate. 



Under " Range " I have some notes on exceptional barks in this species. 



This is a smooth-barked species, and it is usually somewhat scrambling and 



spreading in its habit, which gives it considerable picturesqueness. Like many other 



Gums, it has more or less flaky bark on the trunk, which, being deciduous, gives the 



smooth bark a more or less blotched appearance. The butt is rarely clean to the 



ground, but has more or less flaky, friable bark, usually of no great thickness. 



"' In one specimen from the granite hills between Nine-Mile Creek and Broken Biver, Victoria, 

 F. Mueller has appended the note that the bark is persistent like that of ' Box.' " (B. Fl. iii, 240). 



The juvenile foliage is of medium width ; at the same time it is often broad (e.g., 



Moree), but it is always thin and glaucous, thus contrasting with that of E. tereticornis. 



"The leaves verge exceptionally into an oblong- or oval-lanceolar form; they are neither very 

 shining, nor of very dark green, indeed not rarely of a dull and pale hue, particularly in arid regions of the 

 interior." (Mueller.) 



The species varies much in width and length of leaves. Some are almost linear 

 lanceolate, others bulky broad lanceolate. Plates 136 and 137 will at once give some 

 idea as to the variation. 



