EUKR 



^e Ercn^urr? ai 230tang, 



472 



limb, ten stamens with short flattened fila- 

 ments, a truncate stipma, and a five-celled 

 five-valved capsule. The species are hand- 

 some North American shrubs, many of 

 them cultivated in this country. The leaves 

 of E. arborea have an acid flavour, whence 

 the name of Sorrel-tree. Hunters in the 

 mountains are said to use these leaves as 

 a means of alleviating thirst. [M. T. M.] 



EUBRACHION. A small kind of leaf- 

 less mistletoe, growing on myrtles on the 

 river Uraguay, in South America, and con- 

 stituting a genus of Loranthaceo?.. It has 

 the male and female flowers mixed in 

 small catkin-like spikes on the terminal 

 branches. 



EUCALYPTUS. The gigantic Gum-trees, 

 Stringy -barks, and other timbers of the 

 Australian and Tasmanian forests, consti- 

 tute this genus of Myrtacece, of which be- 

 tween 100 and 150 species are described, 

 though, owing to the widely different ap- 

 pearances assumed by individual trees at 

 different periods of growth, it is extremely 

 difficult to arrive at a correct estimate of 

 their number. Australia is the head- 

 quarters of the genus, numerous species 

 being distributed throughout all parts of 

 that continent ; several are also found in 

 Tasmania, where they form extensive 

 forests ; and a few extend as far north as 

 Timor and the Molucca Islands. The ma- 

 jority of them are trees, some growing to 

 an immense height and having propor- 

 tionately thick trunks. Their leaves are of 

 a thick leathery texture, always quite en- 

 tire,very variable in shape. In youngplants 

 they are always opposite, but they gene- 

 rally become alternate as the plant gets 

 older, and their stalks then acquire a pecu- 

 liar twist, so that the leaves present their 

 edges to the branches. The flowers grow 

 from the angles between the leaves and 

 stem, and are either solitary or in clusters ; 

 the calyx is hard and woody, and separates 

 into two pieces, the upper of which re- 

 sembles a lid or cover, and falls away in a 

 single piece when the flower opens, carry- 

 ing along with it the corolla, which is in- 

 timately combined with it, while the lower 

 is persistent, and bears the very numerous 

 stamens, which form a fringe round its 

 summit. The fruit is closely enveloped in 

 the woody calyx. 



The Australian colonists distinguish 

 many of the trees of this genus by cha- 

 racters derived from the bark ; some hav- 

 ing smooth, others rough or cracked bark ; 

 some are solid (Iron-bark), while others 

 are fibrous (Stringy -bark) ; and, finally, in 

 some species the bark scales off in flakes, 

 either from the' whole tree or from the 

 upper part only. They are also called Gum- 

 trees, in consequence of the quantity of 

 gum that exudes from their trunks. The 

 timber is exceedingly valuable, and is in 

 common use in our Australian and Tasma- 

 nian colonies. In the latter, the three 

 following species yield the best quality of 

 timber, namely : E. globulus, the Blue Gum ; 

 E. gigantea, the Stringy-bark ; and E. 

 amyg'dalina, the Peppermint-tree. But of 



these the first-mentioned is considered 

 the most valuable, although the Stringy- 

 bark attains the largest size. Trees of the 

 latter species have been felled, measuring 

 upwards of 300 feet high, by 100 feet in 

 girth at a yard from the ground. The 

 blue-gum timber is greatly used by colo- 

 nial ship-builders, also by mill-wrights, 

 carpenters, and implement-makers, and 

 by engineers in the construction of works 

 requiring beams of great span; it is ex- 

 ceedingly strong and very durable. A plank 



Eucalyptus macrocarpa. 



of the swamp-gum, forwarded to the Inter- 



j national Exhibition of 1863, measured 230 



feet in length. For some particulars as to 



! the strength of the timber of these Gum 



trees, see Gardener's Chronicle, 1862, 571. 

 I Among other interesting products of 

 I this genus, we may briefly mention that 

 | many species yield a red resinous juice, 

 which hardens into a substance resem- 

 bling kino, and possessing powerful astrin- 

 gent qualities. E. Gunni, the Tasmanian 

 Cider-tree, yields a cool refreshing liquid, 

 froin wounds made in its bark during the 

 spring. A saccharine substance, resem- 

 bling officinal manna, exudes from E. man- 

 i nifera, and other species ; E. piperita 

 ! yields an essential oil; and the large flakes 

 i of bark obtained from several of the spe- 

 i cies are used by the aborigines for making 

 huts, canoes, &c. [A. S.] 



BUCEPHALUS. Diplopappus. 



EUCERiEA. A genus of Samydacm, 

 nearly related to Casearia, from which it 

 may be recognised by its minute greenish- 

 white flowers being disposed in axillary 

 panicles longer than the leaves, not in 

 short axillary fascicles or cymes. E.nitida, 

 a Brazilian bush, is the only species.. Its 

 spreading branches are furnished with al- 

 ternate stalked entire leaves, between oval 

 and lance-shaped in form. [A. A. B.] 



EUCHARIDIUM. A pretty little annual 

 introduced from N. America in 1846, be- 

 longing to the Onagracece, and closely allied 

 to Clarkia. It is distinguished by the long 

 and slender tube of the calyx terminating 

 in four deciduous sepals, by its four three- 

 cleft petals, and by its four-celled, four- 

 valved capsules containingnumerous seeds. 

 It grows to the height of about a foot, with 

 somewhat downy stems and foliage ; the 



