240 
No. 251. 
Eucalyptus tessellaris F.v.M. : 
The Carbeen. 
(Family MYRTACE>E.) 
lit) til ill c.ii description. Genus Eucalyptus. See Part II, p. 23. 
Botanical description. Species tessdlaris F.v.M. in Journ. Linn. Soc. iii, 88 
(1859). 
Following is a translation of the original description : 
A tree, branchlets somewhat terete, ou the lower side angled and smooth on the upper. 
Leaves alternate, somewhat short, petiolate, narrow-lanceolate, subfalcate, faintly penniveined, 
imperforate ; umbels axillary and terminal, double or many, paniculate, 2-4 flowered; peduncles angular, 
the common one longer than the other peduncles ; buds ovate, almost twice as long as the pedicel ; operculmn 
patella-shaped, and obtuse ; the calyx-tube slightly broader and much longer than the operculum ; fruits 
truncate-ovate, ecostate, valves included. 
Habitat in grassy places in the hills and plains, especially sandy-clayey areas from the district south- 
east of the Gulf of Carpentaria as far south as Moreton Bay. Flowered in November and December. 
A medium or fairly large tree, the bark on the lower part of the trunk only persistent, the whole 
dirty-looking and ash-coloured, with numerous longitudinal and transverse cracks in the bark, forming 
unequal, somewhat tessellated, separable pieces. The upper part of the trunk, as well as the branches, 
is white and smooth. The branchlets and the leaves, as in many of the species, pendulous. Leaves for 
the most part 3-4 inches long, J-f inch broad, acuminate. The primary peduncles the same length as the 
petiole or twice as short. Fruit 4-5 lines long, slightly contracted towards the apex. 
" Moreton Bay Ash," Leichhardt's Overland Expedition in many places, and of the colonists. 
It was described by Bentham in B. Fl., iii, 251 (spelt tesselaris), and redescribed 
and figured by Mueller in the " Eucalyptographia," 
Botanical Name. Eucalyptus, already explained (see Part II, p. 34); tessellaris, 
Latin after tessella (diminutive of tessera), a small square stone or piece of wood, &c., 
with which people make chequer work in tables or boards. 
Vernacular Name. " Moreton Bay Ash" is the name usually employed in 
Queensland. For the limitations of the name " Moreton Bay Ash," usually applied 
to this tree, see below, p. 249. " Carbeen " is the name usually employed in New South 
Wales; I suspect it is of aboriginal origin. 
