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Common Name: RIVER RED GUMBotanical Name: Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.
Height to: 40 m.
Diameter to: 2.0 m.
Wood Colour: Red.
Weight (seasoned 12% m.c.) approx: 900 kg/cu.m.
Texture: Close textured and grain often interlocked.
Comments: River Red Gum is one of the most common inland trees of Australia found along watercourses throughout all states except Tasmania, and is probably the tree which is most synonymous with the outback.
Whether water is flowing on the surface or not, watercourses can be traced by following the line of the Red Gums. Although trees in the north of the country may differ very slightly from trees in the southern part by having lignotubers and other differences, for all intents and purposes they are the same species and are classified as such.
As spectacular as they are and even for the lovely shade they give, it is inadvisable to pitch a tent, or erect any building for that matter, under a Red Gum tree because, during the hot spells of weather, it has a tendency to drop a limb without any warning. Although parts of the tree are used to treat head colds by the Aborigenes, one suspects that one might require an ambulance instead if this was to happen. The species does produce good honey though which might sooth some tempers.
In the 1800s, transporting Red Gum to market had to be done by boat or bullock teams and not simply floated down river as Red Gum sinks in water. The timber is very durable though and in the late 1980s some Red Gum logs were discovered, buried in what was once a swamp, that have been dated at 5000 years old. The timber has turned from deep red to almost black in colour but otherwise has been unaffected.
Common Name: JARRAH
Botanical Name: Eucalyptus marginata Donn ex Smith
Height to: 40 m.
Diameter to: 2.0 m.
Wood Colour: Dark red to reddish brown.
Weight (seasoned 12% m.c.) approx: 820 kg/cu.m.
Texture: A hard, coarse textured wood which finishes well.
Comments: Jarrah is one of Australia's most important commercial hardwoods which grows in the south-west of Western Australia, mainly in the wet sclerophyll forests where rainfall is in the 700 - 1250 mm. per annum range. It occurs in almost pure stands where, with favourable conditions, it can attain a height of 40 m or more and mature trees have been known to be over 600 years old. However in poor conditions, such as on the stony slopes of the Stirling Range, it may only grow 2m. high.
Although the wood itself is very durable and does not even burn very easily, the tree can suffer from dieback disease caused by the fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi resulting in quarantine measures being implemented within the forests to arrest the spread of the fungus. It has been used extensively as a heavy engineering timber (piers, bridges, railway sleepers etc.) due to its strength, durability and ease of splitting along its grain; in fact Jarrah is still on the London Underground's specification list as a timber suitable for its sleepers. Nowadays, since the advent of hardened steel tools, it is also being used as an extremely attractive cabinet timber.
The timber of the Jarrah is very similar to Karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor). The bushman's test to distinguish between the two is to burn a splinter; if it leaves a white ash it is Karri, if it is black or grey it is Jarrah.
Common Name: COOLIBAH
Botanical Name: Eucalyptus microtheca F.Muell.
Height to: 20 m. Diameter to: 1.0 m.
Wood Colour: Red to dark brown.
Weight (seasoned 12% m.c.) approx: 1150 kg/cu.m.
Texture: Hard, strong, interlocked grain.
Comments: This famous tree of Banjo Patterson's "Waltzing Matilda" inhabits the arid and semi-arid open woodland zones of Australia. It grows on seasonally inundated country around swamps, billabongs and lagoons and in open belts along watercourses, preferring a clay subsoil.
The spread of the tree is often as great as its height, providing much needed good shade in these hot areas. Its bark can vary between rough and grey to almost black in colour in some; to deeply furrowed in older trees; to smooth, whitish to pale grey and powdery in others. These differences can make the identification of the species a bit perplexing to the casual observer.
The common name is of Aboriginal origin but has also been known as "Yathoo" or "Callaille". Aborigenes used parts of the tree to treat snakebite and its wood is one of the hardest of the Eucalypts.
Common Name: MOUNTAIN ASH, TASMANIAN OAK
Botanical Name: Eucalyptus regnans F.Muell.
Height to: 100 m.
Diameter to: 3.0 m.
Wood Colour: Yellow, light to pale brown.
Weight (seasoned 12% m.c.) approx: 750 kg/cu.m.
Texture: Straight grained with moderately open texture.
Comments: One of the EUCALYPTUS ASH GROUP.
Mountain Ash is the mighty tree of Australia. It is the world's tallest flowering plant (hardwood, Anthophyta or Angiosperm whichever name one uses) with some specimens being recorded at well over 100m. tall. The Sequoia species, the Redwood of north America, has the actual tallest living tree in the world, but is a non-flowering plant (softwood, Coniferophyta, Gymnosperm).
It is a dominant species of the wet sclerophyll forests of Victoria and Tasmania. Wet sclerophyll forests are not often subjected to bushfires, but when they do occur they are both devastating and beneficial. They are devastating for the deaths of humans and animals, the damage to property and the visual effects that they leave behind. They are beneficial for the forest itself.
The seed produced by a Mountain Ash tree does not remain viable for very long when it falls to the ground. Under normal forest conditions once it has reached the ground it is often eaten by ants and also has to penetrate the forest litter to reach the earth. If the seed manages to produce roots it then finds that there is not enough light to develop properly, consequently there is very little regeneration. Once in a while a hot, fierce fire comes along, clears the forest floor, destroys the canopy and opens the seed capsules. The capsules produce millions of seeds per hectare which fall into nutrient rich ash from which a seedling rapidly develops. This is why stands of Mountain Ash of uniform age are often observed.
Common Name: SYDNEY BLUE GUM
Botanical Name: Eucalyptus saligna Smith
Height to: 50 m. Diameter to: 2.0 m.
Wood Colour: Pale pink to Pinkish Red.
Weight (seasoned 12% m.c.) approx: 910 kg/cu.m.
Texture: Open textured, hard and fairly difficult to work.
Comments: Sydney Blue Gum is a majestic white-trunked forest tree where annual rainfall is 900 - 1800 mm. along the coastal belt of New South Wales and into southern Queensland mostly within 200 km. of the coast. It merges into rainforest areas but is not a true rainforest tree and is of similar character to Rose Gum, Eucalyptus grandis, with which it is often confused.
In contrast to Rose Gum, Sydney Blue Gum is seldom found in pure stands and its timber is harder and stronger. In the past it has only been used as a general building timber as it was difficult to season properly unless great care was taken. However with the advent of modern kiln-drying techniques and hardened steel tools, the wood is being more extensively explored as a cabinet timber and is becoming more sought after by present day craftspersons.
Common Name: QUEENSLAND SILVER ASH
Botanical Name: Flindersia bourjotiana F.Muell.
Height to: 35 m.
Diameter to: 1.0 m. Wood Colour: Pale yellow to almost whitish silver.
Weight (seasoned 12% m.c.) approx: 650 kg/cu.m.
Texture: Even texture. Grain is variable with little figure.
Comments: The common name is in reference to the similarity of its timber to the northern hemisphere Ash tree. Its habitat is the rainforests of the coast of far north Queensland. Its timber is a beautiful colour which, at its markets, is called by the general name of Silver Ash along with Northern Silver Ash, Flindersia pubescens, and Southern Silver Ash, Flindersia schottiana.
