74 
GROUP V. E. GIGANTEA. (E. DELEGATENSIS). 
rising' valves when open claw-like and protruding. Mature wood pale pink, much 
used for general building purposes. This . 4 j invenile leaves and in 
viminalis, but it differs from that species in living V .1 se narated by their 
the duller hue of its adult foliage. The two spec.es aie f^ier separated by their 
choice of habitat, E. Dalrympleana favouring cool mountaint sides fiom 3 000 tt 
to 5 , 000 ft. above sea-level, while E. vmmatu keeps to the wlfound In 
at lower altitudes than 3 , 000 ft. Maiden suggests that certain eucalypts foil c 1 
Tasmania and hitherto assigned to E. viminalU, but producing seedlings with 
broad sessile leaves, may belong to E. Dalrympleana. 
The specific name was given in honour of Richard Dalrymple Hay, who ha 
for long years been Chief Commissioner of Forests m Vew South W ales. 
CULTIVATION IN NEW ZEALAND. 
For our New Zealand uplands we urgently need additions to our timber- 
yielding species, and E. Dalrympleana should prove one such species. Seed 
should be obtained from competently named and selected trees in the 
Tumberumba district in New South Wales, and trial plantings made on uplands 
and foot-hills of both Islands. Strict care must be used to avoid propagating 
the similar but greatly inferior E. rubida. 
60. E. GIGANTEA Hooker f.; E. DELEGATENSIS R. T. Baker. 
NATURAL HABITAT, DESCRIPTION, AND USES. 
This is a mountain species found on both sides of Bass Strait. Its altitude 
range in Tasmania is between 500ft. and 1,500ft.; in Victoria and New South 
Wales up to and over 4,000ft. At its best the tree develops a long branchless bole 
crowned with a mass of luxuriant foliage. The dead bark persists on the stem from 
the ground upwards ten, twenty, or twenty-five feet, and is there matted and 
fibrous; above this it falls away in ribbons, leaving a surface that is of a pale 
bluish-grey or greenish-white colour. In the juvenile stage the leaves are already 
stalked, usually very broad, dark in colour, unbalanced, and suspended vertically 
or edgewise to the light; on the adult tree they are 4in. to 6 in. long by lin. to 2in. 
wide, also unbalanced, and of about the same green on the two surfaces. The 
umbel carries numerous flowers; stalk 14in., stalklets l&in.; lid of bud low and 
dome-like; anthers kidney-shaped with divergent connected openings. Ripe seed- 
cup %in. or a little more in lateral diameter, pear-shaped; rim descending; valves 
wholly below rim. Mature wood pale, fissile, clean in grain, free-working under 
the saw, and of high merit for general building construction; durability in contact 
with the ground probably ten to twenty years, according to degree of maturity 
and treatment. 
CULTIVATION IN NEW ZEALAND. 
In all the world trees that can grow rapidly to a millable size and yield good 
timber above the winter snow-line are limited in number. New Zealand is in 
pressing need of such trees. E. gigantea is one of these exceptional and specially 
adapted trees. We have planted it to a limited extent, but not always in suitable 
localities. Without another year’s delay supplies of seed should be obtained from 
best trees in the Tumberumba district, New South Wales, and trial plantings made 
on the uplands and foot-hills of both Islands. 
