6 



DESCRIPTION. 



CCCLXXXVI. E. tropica Cambage. 



In Proc. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., 1915, 49 p. 425, ibid 1927, 61. 



Arbor alta 30 ad 40 pedes cortex in trunco et raniis niagnis albidus et breviter fibratus. 



Folia. — Folium adultorurn textura densa, ovata-lanceolata ad lanceolata, interdum falcata, longa 

 2 ad 5 unci®, lata unciae f ad 1 unciam, albida aliquanto viridia, quum sicca colorem subflamum habentia, 

 vense laterales cum angulo circa 50 ad 65 graduurn ex costamedia, vena intra marginem prope vero in 

 margine, petioli longi circa 1-5 ad 2 cm. 



Fructus abconicales, longa 4 ad 6 mm., diametros G ad 7 mm., valva? exsertee. 



A tree 30 to 40 feet high with greyish, shortly-fibrous, box-bark on trunk and large branches. 



Adult leaves thick in texture, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, sometimes falcate, from 2 to 5 inches 

 long, J to 1 inch broad, greyish-green, with yellowish tint when dry, lateral veins at angle of about 50 to 

 65 degrees with midrib, intramarginal vein practically on the edge, petioles from about 1-5 to 2 cm- 

 long. 



Fruits obconical, 4 to 6 mm. long, 6 to 7 mm. in diameter, valves exserted. 



Buds or flowers not seen.* 



Habitat. — Near the Corella River, about 30 miles north of Cloncurry, on the road to Granada, 

 No. 4,163. (Type.) It is known as White Box. Also probably seen from the train just east of Cloncurry, 

 but not collected. Both localities are in the tropics. 



AFFINITIES. 



This species has some affinities with E. microtheca, (Coolabah) but its fruits are 

 more conoid than those of the latter species, the pedicels and leaves much thicker, and 

 the venation different. Moreover the Coolabah grows on the Black soil plains, a situation 

 which this White Box seems to avoid. 



In the forest this species closely resembles E. ■microneura, (No. 4,162) and in August, 

 1913, with only scant material available, was regarded as probably the same species, 

 but on production of further specimens collected by Mr. C. T. White in February, 1922, 

 and after consultation with Messrs. Maiden and Blakely, it was considered these two 

 trees were separate species. The fruits of E. tropica are larger, the valves more exserted, 

 and the leaves thicker in texture than those of E. microneura. 



The juvenile leaves described in 1915 are from the Croydon plant. f 



* Proc. Boy. Soc. N.S. W., 1915, 49, 425. Also 1927, (51, . Tho Forsayth-Goorgetown tree (No. 4,162), has since 

 been described as E. microneura Maiden and Blakely, Proc. Boy. Soc. N.S.W., 1925, 59, l(i8, while the Croydon plant has been 

 tentatively placed with E. tropica. 



t Proc. Boy. Soc. N.S.W., 1915, 49,424. 



