145 
Speaking of this Tronbark, chiefly from the Manning River district, the late 
Mr. Augustus Rudder wrote :— 
The mature trees are generally pipy, and the colour of the wood is red. The timber of this Tronbark 
is strong, hard, dense, and heavy, but in lasting quality is not always reliable, as I have repeatedly seen 
it quite rotten after ten or fifteen years, but this is not usual. It is very plentiful in places, in the 
Clarence River district in particular, but in these parts the timber is of inferior quality, especially on the 
ridges, where the trees are stunted and badly grown. For railway sleepers this timber is fairly good, but 
is scarcely to be recommended in the round, as a rule, for bridge-work, as its central heartwood is not 
reliable, and it is very subject to the white ant, more so than any other hardwood I know of. 
At the mill-brook, in the town of Stroud, are the remains of the old bridge, 
erected, when we examined it in 1895, about fifty years previously. The foundations 
consisted of logs in the round laid crosswise over each other. Mr. de Coque and 
I went into the bed of the creek, and examined two of the lowest logs, which were 
moss-grown, and which had been exposed on the ground, between wind and weather, 
for half a century. With the axe we took out chips, and the logs proved to he grey 
and red Ironbark, still perfectly sound, except where the water had got into the sun- 
cracks. It will be admitted that this is a good test of the durability of any timber. 
Size. —This is a large tree, attaining the height of TOO feet, with a diameter 
of 4 feet and more. Being a timber in such demand, most of the largest trees have 
long since been cut down in readily accessible places. 
Habitat .—It occurs from the Clyde Mountain in the south, along the coast 
ranges to North Queensland. M f estward it is found as far as "Wellington and Dubbo, 
also at Mudgee. With E. crebra it is found from Dubbo to the North-Western line. 
I shall be glad if correspondents will send me specimens from as many 
southern and western (New South Wales) localities as possible. 
Mr. A. Murphy has collected it from Rockhampton, Queensland, and his 
specimens are precisely similar to the Sydney ones. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 148. 
| Sucker-leaves from Smithfield, near Parramatta. 
C. Flowering twig. 
d. Fruits from the same branch. 
E. Fruits from Smithfield, 
f. Larger buds of what was at one time known as var. rostrcita, of this species, from Cabra- 
raatta, near Liverpool. 
a. Anther. 
PHOTOGRAPHIC 1LLUSTRATION. 
A “Broad-leaved Tronbark ” from Wyong. Girth 21 feet, and trunk 55 feet to first fork. Note 
the flat appearance of the ridges of the bark, which is characteristic of the species.—(F. A. Kirton, photo.) 
B 
