422 



(Mr. Gardner sends a small piece of wood from a small tree, and while it was 

 pale red when received, it has appreciably darkened while it has been in my possession, 

 and I do not doubt that it deserves its local name of Redwood. I do not know the 

 meaning of the word Merritt, or Merrit, but (see Part LXV of my " Forest Flora of 

 New South Wales ") the name Mirret is applied to E. dumosa. Perhaps it means a 

 smooth-barked tree. J.H.M.) 



Mr. Gardner goes on to say — 



The bark is stripped (for tanning purposes) as " Silver Mallet/ although it can scarcely be regarded 

 as a true Mallet, the tree being very like the Salmon Gum (E. salmonophloia) in habit and appearance. 



Juvenile leaves. — E, FlocMonice has remarkable seedlings, with decurrent 

 leaves unique in the genus, so far as I know. Seedlings were first raised from my 

 Desmond fruits, which were fortunately ripe and contained sufficient seed. When I 

 come to the Seedlings they will be figured. 



Inasmuch as there is an important correlation between the seedlings and the 

 " suckers " or the " juvenile leaves " (so-called), I kept a sharp look-out, and Mr. 

 Spafford not only sent the species from South Australia, but also the hitherto unknown 

 juvenile leaves in November, 1919. Mr. Gardner, in June, 1922, sent even better 

 specimens from Bendering, Western Australia. Unfortunately these were received 

 after Plate 236 was put on the stone, but additional figures will be submitted in due 

 course. 



Mr. Gardner remarks — 



When a tree of this species is cut down the stump dies, as is the case with some of our Mallets. 

 The same applies to a tree which has been ringbarked or scorched with fire. That is why it is difficult 

 to get suckers, and one has usually to fall back on seedlings. 



The seedling leaves have been described by me in Joum. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., 

 xlix, 316, 1915. See also this work, XXXIX, 281. 



Buds and Fruits. — Those of the type and co-type (Desmond and Esperance) 

 are figured at figs. 1 and 2, Plate 69, Part XVI. They were from plants of Mallee 

 habit. The Widgiemooltha-Norseman tree (C. E. Lane-Poole) of which a photograph 

 was taken, had fruits of precisely the same shape. The Widgiemooltha tree (E. H. 

 Wilson) collected 18 months later, of which a photograph was also taken, had 

 doubtless similar fruits, for Mr. Lane-Poole pointed out the tree, and he was always 

 most careful in regard to material for identification. 



But the Kondinin-Bendering specimens about to be described (and to be figured 

 in the next Part) undoubtedly show morphological differences, although their seedlings 

 and juvenile leaves closely follow those of the type. I confidently expect collectors 

 to find specimens with intermediate buds and fruits. 



