311 



3. " Spotted Gum," p. 11 (following Hooker, 1844). This is E. maculata, and is 

 in reference to the spotted or rather blotched appearance of the bark. As 

 knowledge progressed, it was found that a vernacular such as this, and indeed 

 many others, became applied to more than one species. It was used by 

 P. Cunningham, op. cit., 1827. In the same work, at i, 187, I find the term 

 ' Woolly Gum," but this is now out of use, being superseded by Woolly -butt. 



The earliest reference I can find to the use of the term " Mallee " is by W. 

 Westgarth in " Australia Felix," p. 73 (1848). It is of aboriginal origin. 



' Weeping Gum." " A kind of Eucalyptus (this is E. coriacea, A. Cunn. — J.H.M.) 

 with long drooping leaves, called the ' Weeping Gum,' is the most elegant of the family." 

 Mrs. Meredith's, " My Home in Tasmania," i, 169 (1852). 



The name " Swamp Gum," which I first find in Mitchell's paper in Proc. Roy. 

 Soc, Van Diemen's Land, ii, 132 (1853), has much the same meaning as " Flooded 

 Gum." 



The use of the name " Lemon Scented Gum " (E. maculata, var. citriodora) will 

 be found in G. Bennett's " Gatherings of a Naturalist," p. 265 (1860). 



We have now arrived at modern times, and can take up the vernaculars in 

 Mueller's writings in the fifties. The indexes of the volumes of the present work 

 catalogue a very large number of vernacular names. 



I offer these records of early vernacular names not as exhaustive (they are, 

 indeed, almost casual) ; they may be useful in inviting the attention of students to trace 

 the dates of entry of some plant-vernaculars into our language. 



I will now invite attention to two statements of a general character concerning 

 the barks of the Eucalypts. 



As regards Mr. K. T. Baker's statement, as cited below, that the classification 

 by the cortical system was introduced by the first settlers, the observation is not 

 historically correct, although it has a stratum of truth in it. I have just submitted 

 eighteen vernaculars, giving the earliest dates of their use as known to me, but only 

 five of them, it appears to me, viz., Ironbark, White Gum, Blackbutt, Stringybark, 

 Woolly Gum (Woolly-butt), and Spotted Gum, are based on the barks. At the same 

 time the use of the bark for classification by the public is a valuable one, and as 

 people become better informed, they will make a more accurate use of it. 



1. " The Gum trees are so designated as a body from producing a gummy, 

 resinous matter, while the peculiarities of the baric usually fix the particular names 

 of the species — thus the Blue, Spotted, Blackbutted, and Woolly Gums are so nominated 

 from the corresponding appearance of their respective barks ; the Red and White Gums 

 from their wood ; and the Flooded Gum from growing on flooded land." (P. Cunningham's 

 " Two Years in New South Wales," i,-200 (1827). 



2. " The first practical classification of our Eucalypts was cortical — one that 

 was introduced by the first settlers of Port Jackson, 1788, and founded on the appearance 

 of the bark, and this grouping of these trees has lasted to this day." (R. T. Baker's 

 " Hardwoods of Australia," p. 137), 



D 



