90 



RANGE. 



So far it appears to be confined to the Lower Hawkesbury, between Broken Bay 

 and- Gosford, New South Wales, and grows mainly on poor shallow moist sandstone 

 slopes with a southerly or south-east aspect ; head of the left arm of Patonga Creek, 

 about 1 \ miles beyond tidal water ; Sugar Loaf, over the Woy Woy tunnel ; Kariong 

 Trig., 807 feet above sea level, and about 7 miles air-line from Broken Bay. The type 

 locality. It extends from Kariong in a southerly direction for about \\ miles on the 

 south-east slope of two prominent ridges which are very little lower than the Trig., 

 and in several places it forms pure stands one to several acres in extent. In one spot 

 on the southern end of Kariong it is intermixed with E. virgata, but, as a rule, it prefers 

 the slightly better and drier soil than the latter species, and it has not been observed 

 to grow on the rocky precipitous slopes like E. virgata does in this locality. (W. F. 

 Blakely, D. W. C. Shiress and H. Bott) ; head of Kendall's Glen, Gceford (W.F.B. ; ard 

 D. W. C. Shiress). 



AFFINITIES. 



1. With E. Sieberiana F.v.M. 



E. multicaulis might be called a Mallee form of E. Sieberiana, as it somewhat 

 resembles it in botanical characters, but it never seems to grow into a tree like 

 E. Sieberiana. Sometimes E. Sieberiana sends out several small saplings from the 

 rootstock, but they resemble the typical form in every way except in manner of growth. 

 But they are very dissimilar from E. multicaulis in the nature of the bark, which is 

 thicker, harder, and more rugged on the lower portion of the trunks, while the bark 

 oi the upper is smooth, glaucous or pruinose, in contradistinction to the short, brittle, 

 mealy-fibrous bark on the base of the stems of E. multicaulis, and the smooth, reddish 

 or purple-brown bark on the upper portion. The juvenile leaves of E. multicaulis are 

 smaller, thinner, and less glaucous than those of E. Sieberiana. It is common to find 

 the juvenile leaves of the latter species 18 cm. long, and 10 cm. in diameter. The 

 fruits of E. multicaulis are also slightly smaller and somewhat differently shaped to 

 those of E. Sieberiana. 



2. With E. Consideniana F.v.M. 



This species is usually a medium-sized tree, and, so far as I am aware, it has not 

 been known to form a Mallee-like growth like E. multicaulis. The bark of the two 

 species is also dissimilar in texture, and there is a marked difference in the juvenile 

 le aves and in the sculpture of the fruit of both species. 



