604 OBSERVATIONS ON THE EUCALYPTS OF N.S.W., 
It is often seen as a graceful sapling, but may attain the dignity 
of a large tree; in this Colony we have it up to 3 feet in diameter 
with a height of over 150 feet. 
It has rather sparse, drooping foliage, which gives it, at times, 
something of a willow-like aspect. 
Bark. — The appearance of the bark of this tree is worthy of 
careful record, to save confusion. It is nearly a White Gum 
when very young, but afterwards the bark of the upper part falls 
off in thin, long ribbons (hence the name Ribbon Gum), and the 
lower part of the trunk becomes covered, to a varying height, 
with fibrous bark of the character known to many as Peppermint 
bark. 
We have not observed a tree of this variety falling strictly 
within the definition of White Gum, like E. hcemastoma, for 
instance; it is nearly a, White Gum. 
Sometimes, as observed near Mittagong, the lower part of the 
trunk of the River White Gum is of a thin scaly appearance; in 
trees say 12 inches in diameter, this scaliness would extend to 
10 or 12 feet from the ground. This scaly appearance, which is 
not easy to describe, is intermediate in character between the 
scabrous bark of a Grey Gum ( E. punctata or propinqua J, and 
the thick scaly bark of a Blood wood ( E. corymbosa ). As these 
trees increase in size, the scaliness changes into that of a hard, 
fibrous "peppermint-like bark" character. The branches are 
quite smooth. 
We draw attention to this matter, as two observers might 
possibly obtain two series of herbarium specimens agreeing in the 
minutest particular s > and one observer might report his tree smooth- 
barked ( LeiophloiaiJ, and the other half-barked ( Hemiphloice). 
The name given by the aborigines of the County of Cumberland, 
N.S.W , to the "River White Gum" used to be " Kayer-ro," 
according to the late Sir William Macarthur. This accurate 
observer writes of it — " Of no value for timber. A small, quick- . 
growing species, very elegant when in blossom; is found only on the 
immediate sandy banks of rivers; the inner bark used for tying 
