Ferdinand von Mueller

1

MS found with a specimen of

Eucalyptus tereticornis

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(MEL 707289).

Richmond,

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NSW.

Oct 30/80

My dear Baron,

I have just sent to the S. M. Herald a notice of the last decade.

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No review of the seventh decade of Eucalyptographia (B80.13.14) has been found in the Sydney morning herald, but one appeared in its companion weekly, the Sydney mail and New South Wales advertiser, 18 December 1880, p. 1159.

As soon as I can get any more copies of the list of Sydney plants,

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Woolls (1880).

I will forward them to you with some copies of my works for contribution to the Foreign Commissioners,

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i.e. of the International Exhibition, Melbourne, 1880-1.

& also 10 copies of my Lectures

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Woolls (1879).

for distribution amongst your friends.

I send some seedlings of E. tereticornis . In the second & third years, the leaves are large, but as the tree gets older, they become ovate-lanceolate, or narrow lanceolate, & sometimes in damp places broad & harsh.

E. tereticornis , which in the county of Cumberland

7

NSW.

is most available for fencing & fire wood, is a very variable species. In the typical form, the operculum is long & smooth, & the leaves ovate-lanceolate, but the operculum is sometimes short, & the leaves of all shapes. In all the varieties, however, there is great uniformity in the shape of the fruit, & the nerve of the leaves is never close to the margin. In trees growing in swampy places, the umbels are crowded, & the operculum pointed, whilst the fruit is smaller, but still with rim & valves much exserted. The bark is smooth, but not so much so as that of the Blue, White, or Spotted Gum, & the wood is much the same everywhere. It is popularly termed "Grey Gum", "Bastard Box" &c. I found a tree once near Cabramatta

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NSW.

with fibrous bark on the butt, but this was an exceptional case, for I could not see a second.

Will you kindly tell me the name of the accompanying octandrous plant? It was sent to me from a garden in Sydney, & I am puzzled about it. Does it not belong to the

Onagraceae

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?

P.S. I have a piece of Iron Bark for you which has been used for 40 years in a post;

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In his review, Woolls had drawn attention to M's quoted statements about the durability of Eucalyptus marginata as jetty piles in WA.

& also a piece of Stringy Bark . I will collect these woods as opportunities offer. E. tereticornis is a useful timber.

Please tell me the name of the little flower . I fancy it is a late importation from America .