75 



sometimes it is three. Apparently the season and the bush fires have something to do with the blossoming. 

 From a beekeeper's point of view the Red Gum honey harvest may be counted on once in three years. As 

 the buds are formed only shortly before blossoming time, one canot tell whether the tree will bloom until 

 December or maybe early in January. 



This tree is occasionally planted by beekeepers, particularly in South Australia 

 and Victoria, as a honey plant. 



Schauer in Plantce Preissiana? gives the aboriginal name as " N'gumbat." 

 Captain J. Lort Stokes, in his " Discoveries in Australia," ii, 132, gave the aboriginal 

 name as " Kardan." At Ellensbrook, in the south-west, the name, at least for the 

 blossom, is " Booneet." 



The following inspired paragraph in the Western Mail of 11th April, 1919, shows 

 that an attempt is being madeto change the vernacular name of Red Gum, so commonly 

 applied in Western Australia to this tree, and replace it by " Marri," said to be of 

 aboriginal origin. It remains to be seen if people will give up a name at the bidding of 

 authority, however desirable the change may be. 



Mr. Lane-Poole, the Conservator of Forests, is endeavouring to correct and replace the misleading 

 name by which one of our most prominent timbers, the so-called Red Gum, is known. In the eastern States 

 the term " Red Gum" isappliecl to Eucalyptus rostrata,the wood of which is red, hard, and somewhat resembles 

 in appearance our Jarrah. The name of the tree evidently arose from the colour of the wood. Our Red 

 Gum is Eucalyptus calophytta, and the name " Red Gum" was probably given to it on account of the quantity 

 of red gum or kino which exudes from this tree. In some portions of the South-west, the natives, according 

 to the writings of pioneers, called this tree " Kurden " or " Karden," while other tribes called it the " Marri " 

 or " Maree." As the native name " Marri " is simple and in harmony with the native names karri, jarrah, 

 and wandoo, Mr. Lane-Poole has decided to try and get people to adopt this name instead of the present 

 common misleading one (sic) of Red Gum. 



I have seen fowls eating the seeds, but do not know the result of lengthened 

 indulgence in such a diet. The fruits, which are large, and of a suitable shape, have had 

 a limited use in country districts as tobacco pipes, both in Australia and South Africa. 

 During the Great War these fruits had a great vogue as protectors of steel knitting 

 needles. Two fruits were connected with strips of elastic by ladies who knitted socks 

 and other garments for our soldiers, and they were willing to pay fancy prices for these 

 fruits and thus the Red Cross benefited. 



VARIETY. 



Var. rosea Maiden, in Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., xli, 187 (1916), a synonym 

 of E. ficifolia F.v.M. var. Guilfoylei Bailey. As a matter of convenience this will be 

 found under " Affinities " at p. 78 below, since it is not easy to make the subject clear 

 without entering into an exhaustive comparison of E. ficifolia and E, calophytta. 



B 



