28S 



(les; prickly to the touch) than cither Stringybark or Messmate. Wood-buff colour, fairly free from gum- 

 veins, and very durable. Mr. J. "Wills, Chief Clerk of Works, Alberton Shire, speaks very highly of this 

 timber, and says that it gives as good results as any timber in the district."' (Jowni. Roy. ISoc, N.S.W., li, 

 418, 1917.) 



Mr. Hopkins writes : — 



But I may state that during several years' experience at " bush work " in my younger days, I not 

 infrequently came upon this feature, in both young and old trees of several species, but perhaps mostly 

 in Gippsland in Red Gum (E. tercticomis), and to a lesser extent in Stringybark (E. eugenioides) and 

 Messmate (E. obliqua). 1 have also seen it in Peppermint (E. radiata), Apple Box (E. Stuarliana), and 

 E. nihida. There is no Considoniana in the district where I then was. Generally — I think always, in my 

 experience — the trees showing the characteristic grew upon "wet"' ground, with a clay retentive subsoil 

 near the surface, though not actually swampy. In some trees — particularly in the Red Gum — these prickles 

 extended through all the concentric layers of wood, from the outside to almost or quite the centre — in 

 cases where the prickles were largely and well developed, and in some cases, more particularly the Pepper- 

 mint and Stringbark. the prickles were much smaller, though perhaps very numerous, and appeared to 

 have developed in the outer layers of the wood. In some cases I have seen the surface of the sapwood 

 so closely covered with fine or small prickles that it might be described as articulate or papillous. This 

 condition is certainly not confined to E. Conmleniana. It may, I think, be found in any species of the 

 Eucalyptus where the causes that produce it are present. 



Mr. W. F. Blakely says they are very common in the Orange district, New South 

 Wales, in E. hemiphloia var. albens, where they arc known as '*' pimples.*' I have seen 

 them 'in a number of other species, but regret I have not made a list of them and of 

 their prevalence. 



Mr. C. E. Lane-Poole, speaking of E. Todtiana (the coastal Blackbutt of Western 

 Australia) says it is disregarded by the houeswife for firewood on account of its many 

 prickles. 



E. Planclwniana is sometimes known as " Needle Bark," because it is prickly 

 to rub down with the hand. The name " Porcupine Stringybark " is also applied 

 to it for the same reason. 



These prickles, which will probably be found in most species, if looked for, will 

 be illustrated by photographs if specimens in E. Muelleriana and E. tercticomis, as 

 supplied by Mr. Hopkins. 



0. — Pendulous Branches. 



It is very difficult to group species according to habit. Besides the question of 

 size, there is tint of length of branches, and of canopy. Most species are rather erect 

 in habit, bat sxiu, of which E. szpulcralis F.v.M., of South Western Australia, is an 

 extreme form, have pendulous branches, and we have all stages between the two. In 

 this species the branches are iutensely glaucous and so very drooping and extremely 

 pendulous that it is known locally as " Weeping Gum," and Mueller has suggested its 

 cultivation in cemeteries, 



