THE ESSENTIAL OILS OF TWO LEPTOSPERMUMS. 163 
The Essential Oil. 
The oils obtained from two consignments of leaves were 
of a deep yellow colour, quite limpid and possessed a 
pleasant terpenic odour. The oil differs from that of L. 
flavescens, Smith, described by the writer in this Journal, 
Vol. Lv, (1921) pages 170 —180, in the apparent absence of 
the characteristic minor constituent, citral, the very small 
amount of phenolic bodies present, and the much lower 
yield of oil. Cineol, however, was detected and found to 
‘be present to the extent of about 3—5%, this being the first 
record of the occurrence of this constituent in the essential 
oils of the Leptospermum. 
The principal constituents of the oil so far identified are: 
(1) d « Pinene. 
(2) Sesquiterpenes—probably eudesmene as principal one. 
(3) Sesquiterpene alcohol, unidentified. 
(4) Cineol 3 to 5%. 
Experimental. 
Two consignments of leaves and terminal branchlets (the 
‘second one being a check for percentage yield and variation 
due to time of year) kindly furnished by the Director of 
Forests, Brisbane, from Fraser Island, Queensland, yielded 
on distillation with steam crude oils, possessing the chemical 
and physical constants as shown in table:— 








Date. —_ |) Weighkot | Persestare | Gronity | Opti | “index. 
12/3/1921 | 453 tbs. | 0°357% 0°8974 | +20°6° | 1°4821 
11/8/1922 | 96 ibs. | 0-20% | 0-9245 | +15-8° | 1-4960 
Solubility in 80% alcohol Ester Number Hot Ester Number Hot 
(by weight). 13 hours. after acetylation. 
insoluble in 10 vols, 6°8 o1:39 
ditto 8°54 63°59 

On distillation at 10 mm. the first lot yielded 58% boiling 
at 45—56° C.; 67% between 60—72° C.; 5% at 72-118° ©. 
and 257% between 118—135° C., whereas the second con- 
