49 



AFFINITIES. 



The affinities of this species are almost intermediate between E. paniculata Sm. , 

 the Grey Ironbark, and E. hemiphloia F.v.M., the Grey Box. 



This is the first species of this genus which has been named with especial reference 

 to its hybrid character. I have a large number of instances of apparently indubitable 

 hybrids. In most cases a pictorial illustration is necessary to make the hybridism 

 clear, and I propose to describe them in this work when dealing with hybridism as a 

 special subject. 



Following is the first passage referring to this particular tree. The Cabramatta 

 tree is the plant afterwards described as E. Bcormani Deane and Maiden (see Part X, 

 p. 330 of the present work). Its affinity is with E. sideropMoia Benth. rather than 

 with E. paniculata Sm. The Ironbark in Mr. Bray's paddock at Concord is E. hybrida. 



The Ironbark group (Schizophloite) is less liable to variation in the nature of its bark than any of 

 the preceding sections ; and yet in some forms of E. paniculata the bark is less rough and deeply furrowed 

 than in its allies, whilst in exceptional cases, when it goes under the popular names of " Ironbark Box " 

 and " Bastard Ironbark," the wood and fruit are those of Ironbark, but the bark less rugged. Some 

 years ago, wken the late Mr. Thomas Shepherd was residing with Mr. Bell, at Cabramatta, he called my 

 attention to a tree which, so far as its general characters were concerned, appeared to be an Ironbark, the 

 shape of the buds, flowers and fruit being similar to those of E. paniculata, and the wood being, in the 

 opinion of the workmen, like the ordinary Ironbark of the neighbourhood. Mr. Shepherd called the tree 

 " Black Box " and " Ironbark Box," and entertained an idea that it might be an undescribed species. 

 Although I have had specimens of this tree for some years, it is only of late that I have come to the 

 conclusion that the tree in question is really an Ironbark, for on Mr. H. Bray's property at Concord a 

 similar one has been pointed out to me. This the workmen called " Bastard Ironbark," as the wood 

 resembles that of Ironbark, whilst the bark is not furrowed as Ironbarks usually are, but is more like that 

 of Box or Woollybutt. Having examined the fruit and leaves of this tree, and having ascertained that 

 the wood is similar to that of Ironbark, I am now convinced that the tree which puzzled Mr. T. Shepherd 

 and that growing in Mr. Bray's paddock are identical, both of them being varieties of E. paniculata. If 

 hybridisation were possible in the genus, one would think that the " Ironbark Box " is a cross between 

 Ironbark and Box, but according to the opinion of the late eminent naturalist W. S. Macleay, F.L.S., the 

 impregnation of the flowers takes place before the operculum falls off, and hence in such a case crossing 

 cannot be effected. As this matter has never been carefully investigated by any observer, nothing like 

 certainty can be affirmed of the probability or improbability of hybridisation. (Rev. Dr. W. Woolls in 

 Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., xvi, 60-61, 1891.) 



Ten years later Mr. Henry Deane and I drew attention to a Eucalypt which we 

 had received from Mr. R. H. Cambage, and which we thought presented an instance 

 of hybridism. This was the identical tree from Mr. Bray's paddock at Concord. 



We are indebted to specimens of a species from Concord from Mr. R. H. Cambage, and the 

 examination of the specimens from the point of view of hybridisation is so instructive that we relate it in 

 detail. Mr. Cambage stated that his tree was growing among E. paniculata Sm. (another of the Ironbarks), 

 with E. hemiphloia near. He added : " The fruits look like those of E. paniculata, but the bark is not that 

 of an Ironbark. The bark is as smooth as that of E. hemiphloia, and continues right up among the 

 * branches." Reference to the herbarium of the late Dr. Woolls showed that he had, many years previously, 

 obtained specimens from the same locality, and following is a copy of his label : " E. paniculata, Bastard 

 Ironbark. Bark something like Woolly Butt or Box." The immature fruits have rims which remind one 



