132 
Botanical Name. — Eucalyptus, already explained; see Part II, p. 34; 
amygdalina, Latin, almond-like, in reference to the appearance of the foliage. The 
name, however, is not specially appropriate in regard to most trees belonging to the 
species. 
Vernacular Names. —Its commonest name is “ Peppermint,” owing to the 
delicious and very obvious odour of its leaves. Sometimes it goes under the name 
of “ Messmate.” Originally the name “ Messmate ” was given to a tree ( E. obliqua), 
which “ messmated ” or was akin to the true Stringybarks, hut the term is in 
Australia now usually applied to trees such as E. amygdalina, which have a softisli 
sub-fibrous bark, easily recognised by observers in the field, and much less stringy 
than that of the Stringybarks. At Wilson’s Downfall it is known as “Willow,” 
because of its pendulous habit. 
Aboriginal Names, — I know no aboriginal name which can he applied with 
certainty to the true E. amygdalina. 
Synonyms. —Por a list of synonyms and a mass of botanical information 
concerning this species, see my “ Critical Revision of the genus Eucalyptus,” Part 
VI, 1905. (Government Printer, Sydney, price 2s. 6d., 4to., with 4 plates.) 
Leaves. —The following particulars in regard to the oil of this species and 
of an allied form are quoted from Messrs. Baker and Smith’s “ Research on the 
Eucalypts ” :— 
Species. 
Whence 
collected for 
Oil. 
Specific 
Gravity at 
15° C. 
Specific 
Rotation 
[®] »• 
Saponifica¬ 
tion 
Numbers. 
Solubility 
in 
Alcohol. 
Constituents found. 
amygdalina ... 
Moss Vale and 
Monga, 
N.S.W. 
0-9012 
to 
0-905 
— 11-37° 
to 
— 13-53° 
3-76 
11 vols. 70% 
to 2 vols. 
70 %. 
Eucalyptol, pinene, 
phellandrene, pep¬ 
permint ketone, 
eudesmol, methyl, 
ethyl, isobutyl, and 
amyl alcohols. 
vitrea 
A suggested 
hybrid, 
amygdalina 
x coriacea. 
* 
Crookwell, 
N.S.W. 
0-886 
— 33-92° 
5-4 
1 vol. 80%... 
Phellandrene, euca¬ 
lyptol, peppermint 
ketone. 
* The notes in this column are mine. 
E. vitrea is a “ White Top ” or “ Messmate ” described by R. T. Baker, and in 
my “ Critical Revision of the genus Eucalyptus,” Part VI, I have proved that it 
and E. vitellina, Naudin, are both hybrids of E. amygdalina and of E. coriacea, 
which was figured and described in Part XV of the Eorest Elora. 
A beautiful and health-promoting tree. —It is this tree more than any other 
which, on the higher parts of the Blue Mountains and on the high table-lands south 
