78 
fairly strong solution of the kino is tested, but on sufficient dilution (in a very dilute aqueous solution), it 
gives a purple colour with the same reagent; an aqueous solution of the tannin was the material tested. 
The insoluble portion has the appearance of a gum, but is insoluble in water on heating until a small 
quantity of dilute soda has been added. When the original substance is treated with water the tannin 
dissolves, while the gum remains insoluble, but much swollen. This insoluble portion is soluble in dilute 
soda, and is precipitated on acidifying the solution, or on the addition of alcohol. It is thus found to be 
metarabin. The reactions and composition of this exudation show it to be identical with that yielded by 
the Ceratopetalums* and the exudations thus confirm the affinities of these trees belonging to different 
genera of the Saxifrage*. (J. H. Maiden and H. G. Smith, in Proc. Roy. Soc., N.S.W., 401, 1895.) 
Size. It is one of the largest of our brush trees. Specimens 70-80 feet in 
height and with a diameter of 2 or 3 feet are not uncommon, hut on the Dorrigo it 
is one of the giants of the forest. Mr. E. H. F. Swain says : 
On the Bellinger the tree rarely attains more than 6 or 7 feet basal girth and 20-30 feet bole. At 
the Dorrigo, however, I have measured it up to 27 feet girth at chest height. This would, of course, be 9 
feet in diameter. 
Over 20 years ago, on the Dorrigo, I measured it 5 feet in diameter, and 
estimated the height of a tree as 90 feet to the first hranch. 
Settlement has greatly reduced the available amount of this timber in the 
Dorrigo, but, while not making extravagant claims for this timber, increased 
settlement and development of orchards will, in my opinion, render this timber 
valuable for fruit and other packing-cases. 
Habitat. Following is the statement in the Flora Australiensls : 
New South Wales. Port Jackson (R. Brown) ; Blue Mountains (Miss Atkinson) ; northward to 
Macleay and Hastings Rivers (Beckler) ; southward to lllawarra (A. Cunningham). 
This remains true (so far as our knowledge goes) of its range to the south, 
but on the north it extends to New England (being very plentiful in the brush 
forests on the eastern edge of the northern portion of that table-land), and it is 
common in the Dorrigo, the Richmond River, and the Macpherson Range. Thence 
it extends to Queensland, where, Mr. Bailey says, it is a denizen of the scrubs 
along the North Coast Railway. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 205. 
A. Flowering twig. 
B. Flower bud. 
c. Flower, showing 
(a) Calyx. 
(6) Petals, narrow and irregular in shape. 
(c) 10 stamens. 
(d) Disc, fleshy and undulating. 
(e) Ovary witli two styles. 
D. Anthers showing small appendage. 
E. Fruits, a white drupe. 
F. Transverse section of a young fruit. 
The flowering twig obtained from the Upper Hastings River, and the fruit from Kogarah, Sydney. 
' Observations on the gums yielded by two species of Ceratopetalum. Proc. Aust. Assoc. Adv. Set., ii, 381 (1890). 
