76 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Jury, 1898. 
Forestry. 
SOME TIMBER TREES OF QUEENSLAND. 
No. 4. 
By J. W. FAWCETT, 
Member of the English Arboricultural Society. 
THE GREY GUM (EUCALYPTUS SALIGNA, Sm.) 
Boranitcan Descrreprion.—The Grey Gum is a tall majestic-looking tree with 
a straight stem or trunk reaching to a height of from 60 to 150 feet, with a 
cireumterence of from 3 to 5 and even as much as 10 and 12 feet. 
Bark.—Vhe bark is smooth and shining and of a silvery grey colour, 
rather thick and deciduous, shedding in thin longitudinal strips. It is more 
or less fibrous near the butt, often so much so as to render the tree very like a 
Woollybutt (2. longifolia, Link.). 
Leaves.—The leaves are alternate or opposite, lanceolate, thick, from 3 to 6 
inches or more in length, much narrowing towards a sharp point, with 
numerous fine transverse parallel views. 
Flowers.—tThe flowers are not large, from 6 to 8 in number, at the end of 
an angular flowerstalk. They are whitish-coloured, and appear from November 
to January. 
Fruit. - The fruit is semi-ovate or subglobose-truncate. Seeding time is 
from May to July. 
Vernacunar AND Borantcan Name—The Grey Gum is one of the 
Euealypts which has the misfortune to be known by a host of different names. 
Different districts have different names for one and the same tree, and the 
unreliability of the colonial names for most of our timber trees is one of the 
greatest imperfections in Australian botanical nomenclature. The Grey Gum 
(so called from the colour of its bark) is also known as Blue Gum (in some 
parts of South Queensland and New South Wales—a misnomer), Grey Box, 
Flooded Gum, Redwood (from the colour of its timber), White Gum, and 
Woollybutt (from a confusion caused by its resemblance in the butt at times 
to the true Woollybutt, . longifolia, Link.). The specific name, saligna, which 
is a Latin word signifying a Willow, was given to it by Sir J. E. Smith (the 
purchaser of the Linnean herbaria and the founder of the Linnean Society), 
who considered that of the few species of Eucalypti then known this one 
mostly resembled in its foliage the Willow; hence the name, which, however, 
is far from being a happy one. 
Disrrrgution.—The Grey Gum is essentially an inhabitant of the open 
forest lands of the higher situations, and is usually plentiful on forest ridges, 
especially in the coastal districts. It is also at times found on rich soil along 
many of the river banks. It is confined to the coastal districts of New South 
‘Wales and Southern Queensland. 
Usrs.—The Grey Gum furnishes an excellent timber, of a greyish colour, 
very tough and hard. It is closely grained, strong, and very durable. It is 
largely used for shipbuilding purposes, especially as masts, planks, and spars. 
Being straight in the grain it is easy to work, andis therefore, for a hard wood, 
a great favourite with carpenters, and is extensively used for building purposes, 
such as battens, scantlings, weatherboards, flooring-boards, shingles, &c., and 
for naves and felloes of wheels. It is one of the lightest of the Eucaly pts, 
floating in water shortly after being cut. It is also easily sawn, but it shrinks 
a good deal indrying. Itis one of the most durable of Australian timbers, 
and has been known to be sound after forty years’ burial in the ground. It is 
