EVIDENCE FOR THE IDENTITY OF THE HYBRID, EUCALYPTUS BRACHYPHYLLA (MYRTACEAE) FROM MORPHOLOGY AND ESSENTIAL-OIL COMPOSITION

The putative interspecific hybrid known as Eucalyptus brachyphylla C. Gardner, which is known to occur at two sites near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, contains the non-terpenoid ester 4-methyl-2-pentyl acetate and the related alcohol 4-methylpentan-2-ol in its leaves. These comp ounds are otherwise known to occur in the leaves of only four Eucalypt us species and several putative interspecific hybrids. This, with the results of multivariate analyses of morphometric and oil composition d ata, adds considerable weight to;earlier suggestions that E. 'brachyph ylla' is an hybrid of E. loxophleba Benth. and E. kruseana F. Muell. T he presence at one site of two distinct chemotypes common to both pare ntal species and to the hybrid plants is demonstrated and discussed.