Curtis's Botanical Magazine/Volume 73/4333
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Tab. 4333.
EUCALYPTUS macrocarpa
Large-fruited Eucalyptus, or Gum-Tree.
Nat. Ord. Myrtaceæ. Icosandria monogynia.
Gen. Char. Calycis tubus persistens obovatus aut globosus cupulæformis, limbus operculiformis integer basi circumscisse et regulariter dehiscens deciduus. Petala nulla. Stamina: filamenta numerosa libera. Capsula 4-locularis aut abortiv. 3-locularis apice dehiscens polysperma.-Arbores (Novæ Hollandiæ) excelsæ. Folia itegerrima coriacea sepius alterna, rarius opposita, interdum in iisdem individuis varia, paucis exceptis glaberrima. Pedunculi axillares breves umbellam 3-15-floram 1 gerentes. Operculum in nonnullis, ex cl. Brown, duplex, exterius calycinum, interius corollinum. DC.
Eucalyptus macrocarpa ; tota pulverulento-glauca, foliis oppositis elliptico-cordatis coriaceis acuminulatis, peduinculis axillaribus solitariis brevissimis unfloris, calycis magni crassissimi operculo conico-hemisplærico acuminato, capsula mnax iia depresso-hemisphærica marginata liguosa 4–5-valvi.
Eucalyptus macrocarpa. Hook. Ic. PI. v. 5. tab. 405, 406, 407. Lel. Pl. Preiss. p. 132.
It is truly said in the 'Icones Plantarum' above quoted, that "one of the finest among the many fine plants lately sent by Mr. Jas. Drummond from the Swan River Colony, is the present new species of Eucalyptus." That was spoken of the dried specimen: with still greater truth does the remark apply to the living individual. Our specimen is about five feet high; and the large and copious foliage, covered everywhere with glaucous white powder, and the bright red flowers nestled among the leaves, form a very striking object. The colour of the flowers is due to the stamens alone; for petals (as in the genus) there are none, and the calyx falls off like the lid of a box. Drummond found it at "Guangan," an open sandy desert, commencing about eighty miles E.S.E of Freemantle and continuing for two hundred miles. This barren country is bordered by a considerable forest, consisting principally of two species of Eucalyptus, called by the aborigines "Urac" and "Morral": the latter is the plant now before us. The seed was raised at Kew in 1842,
and our plant, when five feet high, in the summer of 1847, blossomed in great perfection.
Descr. A shrub, everywhere covered with a glaucous-white, pulverulent substance; young branches four-sided. Leaves numerous, opposite, large, three to four inches long, elliptical-ovate or cordate, sessile and half embracing the stem, coriaceous, acuminulate, margined, penninerved, the nerves very patent, rather crowded, parallel. Flowers axillary, solitary, nearly sessile. Calyx-tube subhemispherical, but tapering: the free portion united into a hemispherical acuminate lid, which separates transversely from the very thick tube. Stamens exceedingly numerous. Filaments long, subulate, rich deep red; the central ones spreading. Anthers yellow. Style subulate. Fruit (see Ic. Pl. f. 407) very large, orbicular, a depressed hemisphere, very woody, opening in the middle by four to five valves.
Fig. 1. Calyx-tube adherent with the ovary. 2. Operculum:–natural size.
NOVEMBER 1ST, 1847.