84 



THE BARK. 



(Continued from Part LI, p. 59.) 



3. CLASSIFICATION OF TREES IN GENERAL BY MEANS OF 



THEIR BARKS. 



It would appear that there are few classifications in other parts of the world, which 

 arc based on the bark. That of Kerner and Oliver, which I proceed to quote, is one 

 of them. 



1. First, the scale, bark, which is detached annually in the form of shields and plates, to be seen 

 especially well in the stems of planes, almond willows, and many species of Australian Eucalyptus. 



2. Second, the membraneous bark, which separates as dry films and ribbons ; this form of bark 

 is shown in the common Birch (Betula alba). 



3. Third, the ringed bark, which is detached from the stem in the form of thin, irregularly fissured 

 tubes, and is especially developed in the Mock Orange (Philadelphus). 



4. Fourth, of which the Vine (Viiis vinifera) may serve as an example, is the fibrous bark, which 

 is detached as numerous stiff threads. 



5. Fifth, there is the fissured bark, which is produced on the stems of the oak, lime, ash, and 

 numerous other leafy trees. In this form the bark is not detached in large pieces, but is ruptured by the 

 increasing thickness of the stem, causing longitudinal fissures with a sinuous or zig-zag course, by which, 

 in one case only, narrow ridges and grooves, and in other cases, broad angular patches, are outlined. 

 (Kerner and Oliver, i, 719-20.) 



Endeavouring to apply the above to Eucalyptus, under No. 1 would be the 

 Bloodwoods (Lepidophloise), while No. 2 would come nearest to the most lamellar or 

 extreme forms of the Lepidophloise, such as E. miniata and E. phoenicea. 



I know no representative of No. 3, but in No. 4 we could have Peppermints and 

 Stringybarks, according to the thickness of the fibrous covering, while of No. 5, the 

 Ironbarks would be an extreme case, and certain Gums, e.g., E. viminalis, stellulata, 

 which have more or less rough bark on the butts. 



Kerner and Oliver (p. 720) go on to say : — • 



The form of the bark is so characteristic that by it alone the species of the tree can be recognised ; 

 it therefore constitutes an important feature in the picture of a tree, nor can it be altered according to 

 fancy. It is inadmissible that artists should combine the studies they have made of various trees as they 

 please, perhaps putting the crown of an oak on the trunk of a plane. 



The above remarks are written with European trees in view, but in Australia 

 the barks of trees have not been even so carefully studied. It is painful sometimes 

 to be asked to admire a painting which may possess many merits, but in which the 



