SEED-CUP. CAPSULE. TIMBER. 
see in nature. In external form Eucalyptus fruits are cup-shaped, goblet-shaped, 
or urn-shaped; from which it seems to follow that the most fitting term toi 
denoting and describing the seed-vessel generally is “seed-cup . It is this term 
that will be used in the descriptions that are to follow; and it apology is needed 
for the innovation, it must he found in the statement that has been offered m 
explanation. 
THE MEANING OF CAPSULE. 
In general botany the word capsule is applied to various seed-vessels that 
dehisce or split open to permit the escape of the seed. In Eucalyptology it is 
restricted to the ovarian sac enclosed in the calyx tube and terminating above m 
the valves. In some rare cases ( e.g. certain Corymbosae) this sac when quite 
dry may be separated from the tube. In the great majority of cases it is fhmiy 
adherent up to the valves. But in all cases it is organically distinct fiom the outei 
case or tube. In scientific accuracy it must be separately named, and the name 
that has been given to it is capsule. The use of this word for the whole seed-vessel 
obscures the distinction, is incorrect, and should everywhere be discouraged. The 
seed-vessel comprises the outer case or tube and the enclosed capsule. Seed-cup 
is just another term for seed-vessel, but a little more descriptive as applied to the 
eucalypts. For the meaning of capsule see Critical Revision, Vol. VI. pp. 584- 
586. 
(e) TEXTURE AND COLOUR OF THE TIMBER, 
When we make a cross cut through the stem of a timber tree and closely 
examine the section, we usually find that there are exhibited two kinds of wood 
an outer cylinder next to the bark of paler colour and a central portion of darker 
colour. The one is called sapwood and the other heartwood. Very generally also 
it is possible to trace annual growth rings from the centre to the circumference. 
These distinctions are not always so clear in eucalypts as they are in conifers, but 
they can usually be made out. Sapwood or alburnum is wood in an immature 
state, and is often porous and open in texture. It may have a high value for 
certain technical purposes where it is to be used in dry situations, but it is usually 
very perishable when exposed to the weather or placed in contact with the ground. 
Heartwood or duramen is wood in a mature state, and may perhaps be more 
correctly called mature wood. It is stored material that has ceased to he a living 
part of the tree. It is usually more dense and much more durable in trying situa¬ 
tions than sapwood. Estimates of the relative values of Eucalyptus timbers nearly 
always refer to the mature wood, and manifestly the value of a tree will rise with 
the percentage of sound mature wood in its whole bulk. 
If we make a second cross cut through our log at a few feet from the first and 
proceed to split the separated portion, we may find it freely fissile or interlocked 
in texture and tough. It may be so interlocked that splitting is almost impossible. 
Tests under the saw and plane will show the texture or grain to the eye and 
explain why the log is fissile or otherwise. Eucalyptus timbers differ greatly in 
their colours as well as in their texture and density. In some groups of species 
there will be found various shades of red; in others the colours will be darker or 
lighter browns and greys. The red timbers are on the whole the more durable, 
but there are exceptions. It will rarely be possible for the forester or timber worker 
to determine a species quite positively by the wood alone; but the texture and colour 
