76 
The South .Australian Naturalist. 
The juvenile leaves arc lanceolate and they grow longer in 
the atluk stage being about, on the average. 9 inches long, they ' 
arc usually lees than one inch wide. On account of their decided 
drooping habit the tree was given its name of “viminalis” to 
describe this feature. The buds are usually in^ threes, although 
thev have more at times up to 6, and they are in the shape of a 
cross. Size, about | inch long and i inch wide. The buds remain 
on the trees unopened for eighteen months and at times trees are 
seen with two generations of buds, young ones and others over 12 
months old. ITe cap or operculum is a short blunt cone. The 
flowers are white, small and are in umbels set in the axils of the 
leaves. It flowers in February chiefly, but may extend its flower- 
ing period several months according to the district. It flow- 
ered at Long Gully in February this year. 
III. GEOLOGICAL. 
The geological features given for the stringy-bark in a pre- 
vious paper (1) apply very well to this species as the two are so 
often associated. The manna gum is found in the Cambrian or 
Pre-Cambrian series of rocks. 
The soils favoured by the manna gum are deep, good soils, 
chiefly in the gullies. On hill slopes, where the tree is often found, 
the soil is usually deep and loamy but may have outcrops of soft 
clay slates. It occurs generally on soils derived from the soft 
clayey rocks and not from the quartzites. 
Teale (2) has taken soil surveys at Kuitpo and he records 
the manna gum growing in soils derived from Tertiary to recent 
sands which are loose and deep. 
IV. ASSOCIATIONS. 
Approaching Long Gully Station there is a steep ridge which 
commences about half a mile away. Long Gully proper is south 
of this ridge while the gully on the north leads to the Station 
and ends at the tunnel close by. This ridge has been investigated 
regarding its ecological conditions and the following results are 
very interesting. In the bottom of the gully E. viminalis is the 
chief tree represented and is in open formation. This species 
ascends the steep side of the gully to near the top and its tree 
associates are Exocarpus cupressiformis and Acacia pycnantha 
which occur only sparingly. The gully bottom is very moist 
and gets much shade during the day and although the steep 
gully-side referred to has a northerly aspect it does not get much 
(1) This Journal, Vol. VII, No. 1. 
