(A. Cunn.) White Peppermint.

Systematic. - A fairly tall tree with a clean, smooth, yellow or whitish bark, sometimes rough for a few feet at the base. Abnormal leaves opposite or alternate, linear, about 2 inches long and under 2 lines wide, on slender branchlets covered with tubercles. Normal leaves narrow-lanceolate, under 4 inches long and up to 3 lines wide, thick; venation scarcely visible, except mid-rib, lateral veins oblique. Peduncles axillary, about 3 lines long, bearing umbels of five to ten flowers. Buds clavate, tapering to a short pedicel; operculum depressed, hemispherical, often umbonate.

Fruit. - Pyriform, contracted at the orifice or sometimes hemispherical, shortly pedicellate, more or less shining; rim red, scarcely domed, truncate, or slightly countersunk when immature; valves scarcely exserted; 2 to 3 lines long, and 2 1/2 lines in diameter.

The fruits might be described as a slightly larger form of the true E. amygdalina, and next to these, E. dives.

Habitat. Tasmania.

REMARKS. - One of the easiest of "Cum " trees to be identified in the field, for the specific name is a very suitable one, the leaves being more linear than obtains in most species.

Our giving the authorship of this species to A. Cunningham is challenged by J. H. Maiden (Roy. Soc. Tas , 1914, p. 26), but as we think that no new data have been brought to light, we retain it for A Cunningham; vide our Paper on " Tasmanian Eucalypts," Roy. Soc. Tas., 1912.

ESSENTIAL OIL. Material for distillation was obtained from The Springs, Mt. Wellington, Tasmania, in January, 1912, at the time of year when a maximum amount of oil might be expected to occur. The yield of oil was 1.8 per cent. The crude oil was reddish in colour, and had a peppermint odour, due to the piperitone present. It contained much phellandrene and a considerable amount of cineol. Pinene was practically absent, or present only in traces. The specific gravity of the crude oil at 15 Co. = 0.9096; rotation aD - 10.2°; refractive index at 200 C. = 1.4677; and was soluble in 6 volumes 70 per cent, alcohol.

On rectification, only a few drops of acid water and volatile aldehydes came over below 1730 C. (corr.) at which temperature the oil commenced to distil. Between 173-1880, 82 per cent, distilled; between 188-2900, 10 per cent. distilled, the greater portion (7 per cent.) above 260°. These fractions gave the following results: -

There was evidently a heavy, high-boiling constituent in the oil of this species, which had a right rotation, but it was not isolated; it was evidently the non-crystallised form of eudesmol. The saponification number for the esters and free acid in the crude oil was 5.8.

The cineol was determined in the first fraction by the resorcinol method; when calculated for the crude oil the result was 52 per cent. By the phosphoric acid method it was 46 per cent, in the crude oil.

Material of this species was collected at Little Swanport, Tasmania, in June, 1908. The oil distilled from this agreed in general characters and constituents with the above. The yield of oil was 1.38 per cent. Specific gravity at 15° C. = 0.9036; rotation aD - 9.9°; refractive index at 20° = 1.4705, and was soluble in 7 volumes 70 per cent, alcohol. Below 193° C. 77 per cent. distilled. The cineol was determined in this fraction by the resorcinol method; when calculated tor the crude oil the result was 51 per cent.

Material of this species was also collected at Nubeena, Tasman Peninsula, in April, 1912. The oil agreed in general characters with those from the previous consignments, only at this time of the year rather a large amount of phellandrene was present, consequently the rotation to the left was higher; the cineol was also slightly less in amount, but still exceeded 40 per cent. in the crude oil. The yield of oil was 11 per cent. Specific gravity at 15° C. = 0.9045; rotation aD - 23.1°; refractive index at 200 = 1.4734, and was soluble in 8 volumes 70 per cent, alcohol. Below 1930 C. 79 per cent, distilled. The cineol in this portion was determined by the resorcinol method; the result was 44 per cent. when calculated for the crude oil.

The results of this investigation were published by us in Proc. Roy. Soc, Tasmania, October, 1912.