97 



AFFINITIES. 



1 and 2. With E. stricta Sieb., and E. apiculata Baker and Smith. 



Its closest relations are with these two species, but their fruits are always 

 urceolate or ovoid, and not cylindroid or ovoid-oblong. The leaves are broader than 

 those of E. apiculata and resemble those of E. stricta a good deal, but those of the 

 present species are more copiously dotted and possess the appearance of an almost 

 serrulate margin. 



The species is referred to in Part IX, 283, under E. stricta. The specimen from 

 Blackheath referred to as " B " (Maiden and Cambage) has prominent spreading, usually 

 well-defined venation, with the fruits inclined to be barrel-shaped. This puzzling 

 form is still under investigation, for it has affinities with other Renantherse. 



E. approximans is a member of a trio (the other two members being E. stricta and 

 E. apiculata) that are not easy to separate. Thus the two latter can only be separated 

 by a convention (width of suckers, a variable, like all other characters, see Part IX). 

 The came thing may be' said (perhaps quoting other characters) of other geminate 

 species. But it seems to me that, in the important matter of fruits, those of E. stricta 

 and E. apiculata are always urceolate, or approximate thereto. In specimen " B" 

 the primary shape appears always to be that of a barrel, while in E. approximans the 

 shape is always cylindroid. I have raised seedlings of " B," E. apiculata (E. stricta 

 may be omitted, as less close to E. approximans than E. apiculata) and E. approximans. 

 Those of " B " are for the most part with stem-clasping leaves, and have no close 

 affinity to the last; those of E. apiculata and E. approximans present certain differences 

 that are difficult to make clear without illustrations. 



I have already shown how close the species is to the E. stricta series, but although 

 I have examined the relationship over and over again since I received the plant in 1901, 

 I have never distributed it before describing it as new, as after every careful inquiry 

 I felt that I could not place it under a described species. 



