From William Woolls to Ferdinand von Mueller   23 Aug 1880

Richmond¹

Aug 23/80

My dear Baron,

Since I wrote to you, I have had a friend staying with me, who has often seen E. pulverulenta & E. Cinerea? in the neighbourhood of Berrima & at Lake George.² He says that they are the same tree, & that as they get old, they change very much in the appearance of the bark. This may explain why in the Flora Aust E. cinerea³ is described as having whitish brown persistent bark, somewhat fibrous. It gets so from age.⁴ The young ones have fibrous bark similar to that of the apple (Angophora intermedia), but as the trees get old, they shed the bark in the upper branches, whilst that on the butt assumes a less fibrous appearance. He says the trees near Lake George are somewhat larger than those about Berrima, & that the leaves of the young ones are large & ovate-cordate. I enclose a small specimen from Lake George in two forms: the other is an old specimen from Berrima. I believe now from what my friend says that the trees are of the same species, differing only in bark according to their age, & also probably influenced by the soil. You will notice in the young leaves from Lake George that they abound in volatile oil. This tree generally indicates the sandstone formation. My friend says "Argyle apple" is the popular name. I think that in the rocky places near Berrima, the foliage is stunted, & hence arises the difference in the length of peduncles.

Yours very sincerely

W. Woolls

Angophora intermedia

Eucalyptus cinerea

Eucalyptus pulverulenta