86 
Buds .—Clavate and umbonate, sometimes even pointed.* Some specimens from Botany and 
National Park have the operculum hemispherical, apparently without sign of umbo. This 
form frequently shows the double operculum. 
Flowers .—The peduncles are somewhat angular; the calyx tube short and broad (Bentham), but 
this is not a constant character. 
Fruits. —4- to 5-celled, flat-topped, wrinkled, brown and shiny, like E. Luehmanniana, but smaller. 
Some specimens from Loftus have slightly urceolate 4-celled fruits, which have thin rims, 
and are depressed.! 
2. stricta, var. nov. (Syn. E. stricta, Sieb.) 
This is the Scrubby Gum of the Blue Mountains, a dwarf gum, very abundant 
on the higher parts of the Blue Mountains and other elevated parts of the State, where 
it often forms an almost impenetrable scrub. On the bleakest parts of our ranges, up 
to between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, this dwarf gum luxuriates. It is often looked upon 
as mallee, but it is not one of the true mallee species of the drier parts of this and 
other States, which have thickened root stocks. It is strict (erect) in its habit; 
hence the specific name. It is too small for timber. 
Height from G to 15 feet, with bark falling oft’ in strips, leaving smooth stems, and timber pale- 
coloured. 
Juvenile leaves .—Rather narrow-lanceolate. 
Mature leaves. —Rigid, very coriaceous, varying from narrow-linear to ovate-lanceolate. Usually 
hooked at the apex. Often glossy. 
Biids .—The operculum very short, nearly hemispherical, surmounted by a point (umbonate). 
Much shorter than the calyx tube. Bentham speaks of the buds as ovo : d. This is hardly 
true as a general rule.J They are clavate, and often yellowish, especially the operculum. 
Flowe-s .—The stamens are folded in the bud, and the anthers are all fertile and renantherous. 
The peduncles flattened or angular. Each with 4 to 8 (Benth im), or 5 or 6 {De Candolle), 
shortly pedicellate small flowers; the calyx tube not 2 lines in diameter, tapering. 
Fruits. —Globose-truncate, smooth, often glossy, up to 5 lines broad and 6 deep, but varying in 
size, contracted at the orifice, slightly urceolate, the rim narrow or thin, the capsule sunk, 
and the valves not protruding. Usually the vahes are very much sunk, but occasionally 
( e.g ., at Wentworth Falls) the tips of the valves are flush with the top of the capsule. 
The capsule is usually sunk in Blue Mountain specimens, the edge of the capsule (rim) being 
thin and gradually sloping into the orifice. 
In this variety we have :— 
1 . The so-called mallee form. 
2. The arboreal form. 
distinct looking enough in extreme forms, but they run into one another. 
The arboreal form besides its size lias broader leaves. 
But the two forms cannot always be separated on herbarium specimens. 
* It is quite impossible to take the bluntness of the buds (on which the species name was given) as a character. The 
transition in this and other respects to typical E. rirgata, Sieb., is absolute. 
+ Some fruits from Botany are almost hemispherical and 5-celled ; they are apparently a connecting link with 
E. stricta. I am of opinion that it is not possible to discriminate between some forms of stricta and oblusijtora without 
fruits. 
I Bentham notes that the operculum is not longer than the calyx tube. It is usually very much shorter. It may 
be remarked that in regard to the general shape of the operculum, with its umbo, this species bears resemblance to 
var. ohtuuflora. 
