May 25, 1914 
Eremocitrus 
9 i 
The first specimens of Eremocitrus glauca to be collected in Australia 
were found by Robert Brown in September, 1802(F), in the thorny brush 
at Upper Head on the coast region bordering Broad Sound in Queensland 
and not in its characteristic habitat, the Downs or Brigalow Scrub country, 
to the west of the coast ranges in southern Queensland and New South 
Wales. Brown's specimens, the best of which are now found in the 
British Museum, show unusually abundant leaves and flowers, probably 
because they were growing in a somewhat moister climate than usual. 
Either this colony of the desert kumquat represents a slightly different 
subspecies, or else it is merely a chance colony of the typical form of 
the species introduced into the coast region by birds or by other means. 
It differs only in its somewhat luxuriant growth from the desert kum¬ 
quat of the semiarid scrubs to the west of the coast ranges. 
HARDINESS OF THE DESERT KUMQUAT 
The accounts of Eremocitrus glauca contained in the records of the 
early exploring expeditions in Australia show it to be native to the 
semiarid region west of the coastal mountains of Queensland and New 
South Wales, where drouths are frequent and the temperature often 
falls low in winter. These records are of interest, as they reveal that 
this near relative of our citrous fruits has great resistance to cold and 
drouth. 
The first mention as yet found of this plant is in Ludwig Leichhardt's 
narrative of his expedition from near Brisbane to the Gulf of Carpentaria 
made in 1844-45 (1847, p. 8, 43, 75, 83, and map). During the months 
of November and December, 1844, Leichhardt and his party traveled 
from the Darling Downs, at the headwaters of the Condamine River, 
about 100 miles northwest of Brisbane, to the Expedition Range, some 
300 miles to the northwest. This route was in general parallel to the 
coast, about 100 to 150 miles inland, and just westward of the coast 
range for the first half of the distance. The Brigalow Scrub, a dense 
growth of scrubs and small trees, taking its name from the Brigalow 
(a species of Acacia), whose silvery green leaves give a distinctive 
appearance to the thickets where it abounds, occupies much of this 
low plateau region west of the coast ranges, and generally covers the 
heavy loam soil that overlies the sandstone formation. 
Leichhardt, during this portion of his trip, notes repeatedly the pres¬ 
ence of a “small orange" or “native lemon." He first found this plant 
on October 5, 1844, while the party was camping on the Darling Downs. 1 
This was in latitude 26° 56' 11" S., and, though the antipodean spring 
was well advanced {Eremocitrus glauca was in flower when seen here), the 
thermometer had registered 32 0 F. at sunrise two days previously. 
a small orange tree, about 5-8' high, grows either socially or scattered in the open scrub * * * ” 
(Leichhardt, 1847, p. 8.) 
