208 



DESCRIPTION. 



XXII. E. buprestium F.v.M. 



Thts is briefly referred to at Part VIII, p. 243, without description. It, will be con- 

 venient to have the Flora Australiensis description :— 



E. buprestium F. Muell. Fragm. iii, 57. 



A shrub of 8 to 10 foot (Maxwell) 



Leaves lanceolate or rarely oblong, usually narrow, acute or miicronate. mostly under 3 inches, 

 rigid, but not very thick, with the oblique reticulate veins usually prominent, the intrumaiginal one at a 

 distance from the edge. 



Peduncles terete or slightly flattened, mostly lateral below the leaves, each usually with about 

 6 to 10 flowers, on short but not thick pedicels. 



Bads obovoid. Calyx-tube about 2 lines long, dilated above the ovary. Operculum hemispherical, 

 obtuse, shorter than the calyx-tube. Stamens inflected in the bud, 2 or 3 lines long; anthers broad and 

 flat, opening in short divergent slits confluent at the apex. 



Fruit nearly globular, about 1 inch in diameter when full grown, but sometimes apparently ripe 

 when much smaller, thick and hard, the orifice much contracted, the rim narrow, the capsule sunk. 

 Perfect seeds very few. large, very irregularly shaped, the acute edge sometimes expanded into a narrow 

 wing. (R.F1. iii. 205). 



The figure on Plate 230 will doubtless be found useful, as also the following 

 notes : — 



It is a tall shrub, sometimes up to 15 or 20 feet, with a Mallee habit; smooth stems. 



Juvenile leiives (not previously described ) Ovoid to oblong miicronate, petiolate, say 2-3 inches 

 long by 1- 1\ broad, glaucous, equally green on both sides, margin slightly thickened. Venation distinct, 

 intramarginal vein at a considerable distance from the edge, sub-pinnatety veined, with the lateral veins 

 approximately forming an angle of -15 dog. with the midrib. 



The anthers are not typically renantherous; they are a little top-heavy, if I may use such a homely 

 expression; they seem to form a connecting link between the typical Renantherae and anthers such as 

 those of E. decipieiis Endl., of the Porantherae. 



Very young fruits simulate those of E. trachyphloia in shape and size. They are slightly ureeolate 

 and have a distinct rim. As growth proceeds, they are borne in the greatest profusion, being as close as 

 they can pack on the previous season's wood.* Individual fruits are even larger than depicted in the 

 Eucalyptographia. Mueller depicts them li; inch in diameter; I measured them when green H inches in 

 diameter.';" Often old large fruits and small fruits are found in the same cluster. (Maiden in Jovrn. 

 W..-1. Nat. Hist Soc, vol. iii. Jan.. 1911.) 



* The figure in " Eucalyptographia " is true as far as it goes, but it is of a branch in which the fruits have largely 

 fallen off in transit to the herbarium. 



f Along with the full-grown fruits are usually a few hypertrophied fruits; these display considerable resemblance to 

 those of E. Todliana, or even E. niarglna'a. 



