DESCRIPTION. 



CCCLXXX. E. Baxteri (Benth.), Maiden and Blakely, n. comb. 



Leaves ovate, or ovate-oblong, obtuse, usually very oblique, under 3 inches 

 long, very thick, with oblique, scarcely conspicuous veins. Peduncles thick and angular, 

 mostly very short. Flowers closely sessile., in a dense head. Calyx-tube nearly 3 

 lines diameter, and shorter than broad. Operculum thick and hemispherical, the buds 

 nearly globular (more or less verrucose, J. H. M. and W. F. B.). Ovary flat-topped. 

 E. Baxteri Herb., S. Coast (of Australia), probably Kangaroo Island, Baxter (Herb. 

 R. Br.). The heads of the flowers are very much like those of E. dumosa var. conglobata, 

 but the operculum, and especially the anthers, are quite different. Fruit not seen. 

 (Bentham in B. Fl. Ill, 207, 1866). 



The fruits, from the specimens collected by W. J. Spafford, Kangaroo Island, 



may be described as follows : — 



i 



Fruits usually crowded into globular heads, turbinate to somewhat pyriform, 

 sessile to very shortly pedicellate, rarely strictly truncate, but often more or less domed, 

 with short exserted valves, 10-12 mm. long, 8-10 mm. broad. Capsular disc usually 

 prominent, forming a broad, thick, oblique band around the top of the fruit, and exceeding 

 the calycine rim by 3-4 mm., the lower inner portion of the disc slightly fused to the 

 base of the valves. 



Description of the Seeds. — Fertile seeds glossy, light to dark brown or nearly 

 black, 2\ to 3 mm. long, 1^ mm. broad, very irregular in shape, the majority somewhat 

 oblong-cuneate, with a flat or slightly concave ventral surface, wedge-shaped towards 

 the small hilum. Dorsal surface usually convex, striate or rugose. The shorter and 

 thicker seeds more pyramidal, with two or three radiating ridges, testa thin and brittle. 

 Sterile seeds glossy, crystalline, cubiform to D-shaped, a light reddish-brown, slightly 

 shorter and broader than the fertile seeds. Differing from the seeds of E. Blaxlandi 

 in being more uniformly narrower and more cuneate. Kangaroo Island, Hundred of 

 Cassine, South Australia, W. J. Spafford, May, 1916. 



Extract from letter from Mr. W. Gill, Conservator of Forests, Adelaide, dated 

 5th October, 1919 :— ' The Stringybark is a valuable timber in the S. East much used 

 for house building, regarded as equal to hickory for buggy and wheelwright work." 



