412 



K. T. BAKER. 



smoother and more uniform than that of the allied species. The 

 wood of E. paniculata, especially in the pale variety, is very hard 

 and tough, and, according to. Sir Wm. Macarthur, is "the most 

 valuable of all Ironbarks," being highly prized by wheelwrights for 

 shafts, spokes, and cogs, or for any purposes where strength and 

 durability are required." — (Dr. Woolls, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 

 1880-1, p. 503.) 



Baron von Mueller in his Eucalyptographia, under E. 

 paniculata, states, that according to Dr. Woolls it is called 

 Red Ironbark on account of its reddish dark timber, and 

 himself states it is often darker than other kinds of ironbark 

 timber. 



Mr. Maiden, Journ. Roy. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. xlvii, 1913, 

 "Notes on Eucalypts," p. 84, states: — 



"Incidently I may say that E. paniculala, Sm. is referred to as 

 Red Ironbark by Mueller in "Eucalyptographia" by a mistake on 

 the alleged authority of the late Revd. Dr. Woolls, who, in his 

 own copy of that work (in my possession) cancelled the word 'red' 

 and inserted 'white.' The student of New South Wales Eucalypts 

 knows that to the vast majority of people E. paniculata goes under 

 the name of White or Grey Ironbark, while some people, noting 

 its pink or pale red colour (sometimes deeper in tint, but never as 

 deep a red as E. siderophloia,) use the name Red Ironbark, but, 

 compared with a true Red Ironbark the term is very misleading." 



Whilst cognisant of the opinions of some systematists 

 that allowances must be made for variation in timbers of 

 the species of this genus, yet my experience, after working 

 on the timbers for a quarter of a century, is, that Eucalyptus 

 timber variations are not great wherever grown, especially 

 colour of timbers, certainly not in a range of several colours. 

 Of course, we may find a diseased tree occasionally, but 

 otherwise these parts and properties are very fairly con- 

 stant, and that the percentage of variation is low. For 

 instance, E. globulus timber is world known, and it is the 



