143 
Synonyms. — E. fibrosa, E.v.M., and E. ornata, Sieb. (See Crit. Rev. gen. 
Euc., Part x, p. 325.) 
Leaves. —Tile coarseness of the foliage in this species has already been 
alluded to. 
Flowers. —The buds are often, when young, of the “ egg-in-egg-cup ” shape 
—that is to say, the operculum is of noticeably less diameter than the calyx. (See 
figure.) 
The bud is commonly beaked, but it is a mistake to say that there is a beaked 
(rostrate) form of the species. This is dealt with at p. 324, Part x, of my Critical 
Revision of the genus Eucalyptus. 
Fruits. —The fruits have generally exsert valves (teeth, some people call 
them), which is usually quite sufficient to distinguish this from other Ironbarks. 
(See figures D and E of Plate 148.) 
Bark. —The ridges of bark common to all Ironbarks are flattest in this species, 
that is to say, in other Ironbarks they are sharper and more conical in section. 
Timber . — Eoiv io tell Ironbark. —It is not very easy in a few words to give 
a definition of Ironbark. Of course, if the bark is available, the thing is simple 
enough, for most of the barks are characteristically furrowed and rugged. To 
describe it we must take note of a variety of circumstances. It is heavy (almost 
the heaviest of our hardwoods). It is hard, as may readily seen if it be touched with 
a plane, or a nail be driven (or attempted to be driven) into it. Its most charac¬ 
teristic property, however, is a certain “ gumminess ” in working, which is well 
brought out under the plane, and its horny texture. The result is that, when planed, 
ironbark shows the appearance of more or less parallel striae or lines of close-textured 
wood, strongly resembling horn, while between these the wood has a more open 
grain, showing narrow pits which may be seen, even by the naked eye, to be filled 
by a substance of resinous texture. In some specimens it is not easy, however, to 
make out these lines of horny-textured wood, but the resin-pits appear to be always 
present. Ironbark is more or less curly in the grain, consequently it often gives 
trouble to plane to a perfectly smooth surface. If a blunt tool be used, the ironbark 
tears in fairly regular blotches, while to get a perfectly smooth surface the wood 
often requires to be traversed with the plane, or even to be gone over with the steel 
scraper. Its hardness and weight often precludes it from use—perhaps an advantage, 
as otherwise the consumption of this timber would be inordinate. 
A rough-and-ready method (and in the hands of an expert a satisfactory 
method) of testing whether a timber is Ironbark, is to cut a fragment—say 2 or 3 
inches long, and only as thin as a piece of twine—with a penknife; its tensile 
strength is tested between the fingers. 
