IS EUCALYPTUS VARIABLE ? 315 



IS EUCALYPTUS VARIABLE? 



By J. H. Maiden, 



Director, Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Government Botanist 



of New South Wales. 



[Read before the Royal Society of N. S. Wales, December 3, 1902.'] 



SYNOPSIS : 



I. The variability of characters considered seriatim. 



II. Has variation in Eucalyptus now ceased ? 



III. Some studies in variation. 



IV. Mannas, kinos, oils, etc. are accessory characters only. 



V. Botanical classification for purposes of nomenclature of genera etc., 



is based upon morphological characters. 



This Journal has been a medium for recording the theory 

 that the genus Eucalyptus has now ceased to be variable. 

 I propose to consider the question from various points of 

 view. 



I. The Variability of Characters considered seriatim. 

 The genus Eucalyptus is such a large one that a number 

 of schemes have been submitted for dividing it into sections 

 with a view of associating those closely allied, or for arriv- 

 ing at the name of a species with facility. I propose to 

 review each character, from timber to anther, to see if 

 any satisfactory scheme can be evolved. In the Proc. 

 Aust. Assoc, for Adv. of Science, Sydney Meeting, 1898, 

 both Prof. Tate 1 and Mr. Luehmann 2 simultaneously gave 

 prominence to the use of the fruit for purposes of classifica- 

 tion. Both papers take cognizance of other characters as 

 well. Both are the work of men who know the genus and 

 are valuable contributions to knowledge. 



1 Tate, R. — "A review of the characters available for the classification 

 of the Eucalypts, with a synopsis of the species arranged on a carpo- 

 logical basis." 



2 Luehmann, J. G. — "A short dichotomous key to the hitherto known 

 species of Eucalyptus." 



