89 



DESCRIPTION. 



CDXXVL E. multicaulis Blakely. 



Jour. Roy. Soc, N.S.W., LXI, 172 (1927). 



Mallee parva erecta caulibus raniisque temiibus; folia juvenilia sub-glauca, breviter petiolata, ovata 

 vel elliptic* ; folia rnatura-excentia alternata, petiolata, lanceolata, vel falcato lanceolata, subviridia 

 utrimque nitida ; gemma? globulares, pedicellatae ;. antheroe rcuiformes ; capsula? pyriforrnes vel urceolatse- 

 truncata;, disco parvo, piano, 6-9 x 5-8 mm. 



A small erect Mallee, with slender stems and branches ; juvenile leaves sub-glaucous, shortly petiolate 

 ovate to elliptical ; adult leaves alternate ; petiolate, lanceolate to falcate-lanceolate, pale green, glossy 

 on both surfaces : buds globular, pedicellate ; anthers reniform ; fruit pyrif orm to urceolate-truncate 

 disc small, flat, 6-9 x 5-8 mm. 



A Mallee, 6-20 feet high, with numerous slender whipstick or clothes-prop-like stems |-4 inches 

 in diameter. Large-sized plants with a little rough, sub-fibrous bark on the lower part of the stems, the 

 upper portion smooth and usually purple-brown in colour. Branchlets sub-terete to quadrangular. 



Juveilile leaves alternate, glaucous, shortly petiolate, ovate, elliptical to somewhat cordate. 

 apiculate, thiekish, usually lustreless, 4-10 cm. long, 3-9 cm. broad ; venation scarcely prominent, the 

 midrib slightly convex beneath, canaliculate on the upper surface of the lamina ; lateral veins rather 

 numerous, spreading at an angle of 20-40° with the midrib; intramarginal vein distant from the 

 slightly revolute margin. 



Intermediate leaves alternate, broadly lanceolate to obliquely lanceolate, dull, slightly glaucous, 

 the lateral veins somewhat more distant than in the juvenile leaves, diverging at an angle of 40-50° to the 

 midrib, 7-12 cm. long, 4-7 cm. broad. 



Adult leaves alternate, petiolate, obliquely-falcate to lanceolate, light green (not glaucous) drying 

 a pale colour, glossy on both surfaces, coriaceous, copiously dotted with dark oil glands, the margins somewhat 

 thickened, 6-12 cm. long, 1-3 cm. broad; venation somewhat longitudinal, the median nerve more or less 

 obscure especially on the lower surface ; lateral veins radiating at an angle of 65-80° with the midrib and 

 much closer together than in the intermediate leaves; intramarginal vein not far removed from the edge. 

 Petiole semi-terete and usually twisted. 



Inflorescence in axillary umbels, the peduncle compressed, up to 15 mm. long, supporting 5-12 

 pedicellate flowers. Buds drum-stick like, including the trigonous pedicels 5-8 mm. long. Calyx-tube 

 shaped like a wine-glass, about 2 mm. deep; operculum blunt, hemispherical, about 3 mm. in diameter; 

 stamens white, not very numerous, attached to the inner edge of the calyx-tube or staminal ring in two 

 or three closely-packed irregular rows, only the inner ones antheriferous and shorter than the outer ones. 

 Anthers very small, reniform, with a large globular semiterminal gland in front. Style slender, subulate, 

 not exceeding the top of the calyx-tube. 



Fruit pyriform-truncate, to slightly urceolate, flat-topped or slightly convex, the small capsular 

 disc growing well out towards the centre of the capsule and extending over the very small enclosed valves, 

 °r the latter rarely exsert, usually three-celled, 6-9 mm. long, 5-8 mm. in diameter, 



