182 



DESCRIPTION. 



CCC XVIII. E. Mitehelli Ettingshausen. 



(Ante, p. 177.) 



Also Tate, Rept. Horn. Exped., 1896, Part 3, p. 69. Desert Sandstone of 



South Australia. 



He compares it as similar to the living E. rudis Endl., and E. scabra Dum. (E. eugenioides 

 Sieb.), and says it " corresponds "to E. oceanica Ung. of the European Tertiary flora. 



The type comes from near Emmaville, New South Wales, in ironstone shale, 

 under basalt. " Certain fragments of leaves appear to have the characters on which 

 Ettingshausen described this species." So Mr. Deane writes on specimens from 

 Mornington, Victoria, figured by him, Plate iii, figs. 5, 6, 7, 8 (Bee. Geol. Surv. Vict, 

 vol. i, Part I, p. 24, 1902). Tate and Watt record it from the Elizabeth Kiver, Central 

 (South) Australia. 



Following is the original description : — ■ 



Sp. Char. — E. foliis coriaceis, petiolatis, lanceolatis vel Hneari-lanceolati-', subfalcatis. basi 

 attenuates, apice aeuminatis, integerrimis ; nervatione brachidodroma; nervo p:imario prominente; 

 nervis secundariis subangulis 50-60° orientibus, approximatis tenuibus subfiexuosis., arcubus laqueorum 

 in nervuni marginalem oonflucntibus inter se conjunctis; nervis tertiariis e secundariis extus subangulis 

 aeutis egredientibus ; reticulo microsynammato. 



Obs. — The fossil leaves represented in figs. 6, 7, 8 doubtless belong to one and the same species. 

 They are equal in texture, shape and nervation, and only show fragments of different parts of leaf. The 

 specimen, fig. 7, exhibits the petiole and the rather narrowed base of leaf, and the specimen, fig. 6, shows 

 the lamina of the leaf to be l.nceolate and falciform. The texture is coriaceous as the above-mentioned 

 specimens, and that of fig. 8, indicate. Borders are untoothed. The nervation represented in fig. la 

 (enlarged) is well preserved on all specimens, and exactly shows the type of the Myrtacea?. The primary 

 nerve is prominent. The secondary nerves are thin, approximate, somewhat fiexuous, and joined together 

 by a marginal nerve. The tertiary nerves join the secondary ones in a direction which is oblique to the 

 axis of the leaf. The network consists of minute meshes. The well-preserved specimens, figs. 6 and 7, 

 exhibit fine dots, equally spread over the lamina. When examined through a strong glass they show 

 themselves to be the receptacles corresponding to the oil glandules clue to the leaves of Myrtacea?. 



A comparison of these fossils to the leaves of the recent Myrtacese led me directly to the large genus 

 Eucalyptus. E. rudis Endl, and E. scabra Dum., both living in Australia, possess leaves very similar to our 

 fossils. Among the fossil species hitherto described, ours corresponds to Eucalyptus oceanica Ung. of Ihe 

 European Tertiary flora. I will reserve the decision as to whether both species are to be united or not 

 for future investigation. 



Now we come to " Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Kreideiiora Australiens," by 

 Dr. Constantin von Ettingshausen, in Denkschriften K. Akad. Wissen., Vienna (18y5), 

 which contains descriptions of the following new species, viz., E. cretacea (p. 48), 

 E. Davidsoni, Oxleyana, scoliop>hylla (p. 49), E. Warraghiana (p. 50). They are all 

 attributed by the author to the Cretaceous of New South Wales. 



