IS EUCALYPTUS VARIABLE ? 319 



lialf bark and the latter having rough bark to the branchlets. 

 Similarly E. pilularis, in its normal form has smooth, 

 while its variety Muelleriana has rough branchlets. 



It places in justaposition those that are not closely 

 related, as will be observed from the examples given under 

 each section. Prominent examples are (a) E. paniculata, 

 Sm., and E. fasciculosa, F.v.M., and (b) E. sideroxylon, 

 A. Ounn. and E. leueoxylon, F.v.M., respectively nearly 

 alike in leaves, flowers and fruits, but utterly dissimilar in 

 bark and wood. 



Absolute anomalies as regards barks are those of Iron- 

 bark for E. stellulata, Sieberiana, and viminalis* a box-like 

 bark for E. tereticomis, and observers will note many 

 other anomalies within their own experience. At the same 

 time, in careful hands, the bark is the most useful character 

 the forester can employ. 



Timber — While the character of a timber is a matter of 

 economic importance, its use in botanical diagnosis is very 

 often overlooked. For many years I have insisted on the 

 examination of the timber wherever possible, and recog- 

 nition of this character has undoubtedly led to a better 

 understanding of the genus. 



Timbers can be classified in different ways, e.g., 



1. Flssility — Some are fissile, such as Stringybarks (E. 

 eugenioides, etc.), Mountain Ash (E. Sieberiana), Victorian 

 Blackbutt (E. regnans) etc. Others are short in the grain, 

 such as many gums, snapping off like a carrot, while others 

 are tough and interlocked like boxes and ironbarks. 



2. Colour — In a lecture delivered in 1891 before the 

 Sydney Architectural Association of N.S.W., I divided many 

 of the Eucalyptus timbers into pale hardwoods, subdividing 

 them into three groups, (a) hard, interlocked, (b) fissile, 



3 See Luehmann, op. cit. page 524. 



