AUSTRALIAN MELALEUCAS AND THEIR ESSENTIAL OILS. 197 



when preparing his Flora Austraiiensis, for there he states, 

 Vol. in, p. 142 :— 



"This species, widely spread and abundant in the Indian 

 Archipelago and Malayan Peninsula, varies exceedingly in the 

 size, shape and texture of the leaves, in the young shoots, very 

 silky- villous or woolly, or the whole quite glabrous; in the short 

 •and dense or long and interrupted spikes ; in the size of the flowers; 

 in the greenish-yellow, whitish, pink, or purple stamens, etc , and 

 at first sight it is difficult to believe that they all can be forms of 

 one species, but on examination none of these varieties are 

 sufficiently constant or so combined as to allow of distinct races." 



J. F. Duthie who wrote the Myrtacese portion of Hooker's 

 Flora of British India, reproduces these remarks, Vol. n, 

 p. 463, and divides the species into two varieties, viz : — 

 var. leucadendron, var. minor. 



The only difference he makes in these two forms is that 

 the former has glabrous spikes, whilst in the latter they 

 are villous. 



De Oandolle in his Prodromus, Part in. p. 212, lists M. 

 leucadenclron, Linn, and M. minor, Smith, giving specific 

 differences practically similar to the varietal ones of Duthie; 

 more recently Bailey makes three varieties, viz: — var. 

 land folia, var. saligna, var. Cunninghami. 



Not only are we inclined to regard M. leucadendron, 

 Linn, as extra-Australian, but also M. minor, Smith, — the 

 source of Oajuput oil ; but in order to throw further light 

 on the subject, specimens were obtained from Dr. M. Treub, 

 Director of the Department of Agriculture, Buitenzorg, 

 Java, who very kindly sent us full material — flowering and 

 fruiting specimens and a large supply of oil obtained from 

 that species, or M. cajuputi as he states. 



This botanical material matches very well the coloured 

 figure of M. minor, Sm., in Bentley and Trimen, Medicinal 

 Plants, Vol. ii, p. 108. The leaves are of rather a thin 



