(DC, in Prod , iii, p. 220.) Narrow-leaved Mallee.

Systematic. - A shrub or small tree. Leaves from narrow-linear to oblong-lanceolate, straight or rarely falcate, mostly under 4 inches long, thick, with fine diverging veins scarcely ever visible. Peduncles short, terete or scarcely angular, each with a head of four to eight flowers, closely sessile or obscurely pedicellate. Calyx 2 to 2 1/2 lines long, rather thick, but not angular; operculum hemispherical, much shorter than the calyx tube.

Fruit. - Pear-shaped or nearly globular, contracted at the orifice; rim rather thick, flat or slightly convex; the capsule more or less sunk; but the valves often slightly protruding, about 3 lines in diameter.

The resemblance in these fruits is nearest to E. Wilkinsoniana, E. Banksia, E. Moorei, and occasionally E cugenioides.

Habitat. - Kangaroo Island, South Australia.

Plate LVIII.

C. Toms, del.

Eucalyptus Cneorifolia. DC. Narrow Leaf Mallee

REMARKS. Bentham's (loc. cit.) classification is followed in regard to this species. Mueller synony-mises De Candolle'a species under E. stride, but material of these two species show them to be quite distinct. De Candolle's and Brntham's descriptions very aptly describe the Kangaroo Island Eucalypt; the tree, however, does not appear to occur on the mainland of South Australia

ESSENTIAL OIL. - Material consisting of the leaves and terminal branch-lets for distillation were collected at the Kingscote end of Kangaroo Island, in the month of June, 1911. This species is the principal one on the island from which Eucalyptus oil is distilled for pharmaceutical purposes. It is one of the "Mallees," or shrubby Eucalypts, and is a very common species on Kangaroo Island, where it is known as "Narrow-leaf."

The species known there as "Peppermint" (E. odorata) seems to be closely related, chemically, to E. cneorifolia, and the oils distilled from these two trees show great resemblances. The principal constituent is cineol, and pinene is only present in comparatively small amount. The high-boiling aldehyde, aroma-dendral, is a characteristic constituent in this oil, even more so than in that of the "Peppermint." The rectified oil of E. cneorifolia was slightly yellow in tint, as is usual with the oils of this group. This colour is due apparently to the influence of the particular phenol present. The product of this species is one of the most pronounced cineol-bearing oils in Kangaroo Island, but requires rectification, so that the aromadendral, sesquiterpene, and other high-boiling constituents may be removed as much as possible.

The yield of oil was 1.8 per cent., but this may be taken as the minimum yield, the material being collected in midwinter, and from old trees. The crude oil was orange-brown in tint, and had an odour similar to the cineol-pinene oils of this group, with a secondary one of aromadendral. Volatile aldehydes were present, but phellandrene was absent.

The crude oil had specific gravity at 150 C. = 0.9229; rotation aD - 3.3°; refractive index at 200 = 1.4664, and was soluble in 1 1/4 volumes 70 per cent, alcohol. The laevo-rotation of this oil is largely due to the aromadendral.

On rectification, a few drops of acid water with some aldehydes came over below 1740 C. (corr.). Between 174-1850, 81 per cent. distilled; between 185-2200, 9 per cent. came over, and between 220-2370, 5 per cent. distilled. These fractions gave the following results: -

The high lævo-rotation of the third traction was due to the aromadendral. The cineol was determined by the resorcinol method in the fractionated oil; when calculated for the crude oil the result was 87 per cent. By the phosphoric acid method it was 62 per cent. The saponification number for the esters and free acid was 7.4. (See further analysis under "Quantitative determination of cineol.")

In the year 1901, Messrs. Faulding & Co., of Adelaide, South Australia, forwarded to us a quantity of the oil of this species which had been distilled in Kangaroo Island. The results of the investigation on that sample were published in the first edition of this work. The oil resembled in every way the product we distilled from leaves forwarded to us, the analysis of which is recorded above.

The crude oil had specific gravity at 150 C. - 0.9287; rotation aD - 5.4°; refractive index at 20° = 1.4690, and was soluble in 1 1/4 volumes 70 per cent, alcohol. The saponification number for the esters and free acid was 16.

Between 174-1880 C. (corr.), 80 per cent. distilled; between 188-2100, 7 per cent., and between 210-232°, 4 per cent. distilled. These fractions gave the following results: -

The cineol in the crude oil, determined by the phosphoric acid method in the first fraction, was 54 per cent. (O.M.). The lævo-rotation of the oil was due to the aromadendral.