Page:A primer of forestry, with illustrations of the principal forest trees of Western Australia.djvu/78

 TREES OF THE EASTERN DISTRICTS AND THE GOLDFIELDS.

The foregoing trees are found in the Southern and South- Western portions of the State. Other trees, some of them closely related to those already mentioned, are found on the goldfields and in the Eastern Districts. The principal of these are as follows:—

16.— MALLETS.

These four mallets appear chiefly in the savannah country between York and Mount Barker, in the South-Eastern District of the State. These trees grow to a height of 50 ft. with a diameter of two feet. The bark has been in the past the subject of an extensive export trade, but lack of proper regulation has resulted in its being depleted over very large areas. The bark contains from 36 per cent, to 47 per cent, tannin.

17.— SALMON GUM (Euc. salmonophloia).

A tree ranging from 80 feet to 100 feet in height, with a bole of 40 to 50 feet, and about 2½ to 3 feet in diameter.

An exceedingly dense wood, the second strongest in Australia. It has up to now been used for mining purposes only. It is questionable whether the goldfields of Western Australia, which have up to date yielded £143,000,000 of gold, would have been developed had it not been for this free and the Mulga (Acacia aneura and stereophylla) and Gimlet (Euc. salubris). The region in which it thrives has an average rainfall of 12 inches. Its gleaming salmon-coloured bark makes it the most conspicuous tree of the savannah forest.

This tree is one of. the most easily recognised of our trees. The bark, which is quite characteristic of the species, is shed every year during the summer months. The leaves which are usually arranged in a flat crown at the summit of the tree hang vertically and are particularly bright and shiny. The flowers are very small, and of a yellowish-white colour, and much sought after by bees and other insects. The fruits too are very small; they are cup-shaped or hemispherical, and only slightly over l/16th of an inch in diameter.