Cold hardy Eucalyptus hybrids... in the Danish Fjords!

Identifying Mystery Eucalyptus: The case of E. gunnii x nitens hybrids... in Denmark!

Gustavo Iglesias Trabado
GIT Forestry Consulting - Consultoría y Servicios de Ingeniería Agroforestal - www.git-forestry.com - EUCALYPTOLOGICS

We have previously showed you around here different cases of "odd eucalypts" growing in different parts of the world. First, the case of our friend Ian Barclay at the Desert Northwest finding a new eucalypt hybrid (Eucalyptus crenulata x nitens) growing among his ornamental plant stock. Then, some stories about hybrid E. gundal (Eucalyptus gunnii x dalrympleana) developed in France for forestry purposes. And some more blabla about Eucalyptus globulus x nitens, another potentially interesting hybrid choice for timber production.

Today we bring you some more about eucalypt hybrids. In this case, a type with some interest for those growing the ubiquitous Australian trees in the boundaries of their tolerance to cold. From Denmark, after enduring 8 winters, and thanks to Martin Reimers, we take a peek at Eucalyptus gunnii x nitens ... in two botanical plates!

Fig. 1: Botanical assessment of photographic samples leading to the identification of Martin Reimers' mystery Eucalyptus growing in the Northern shores of the Flensburg Fjord, Denmark, as a hybrid Eucalyptus gunnii x nitens. (Click the image to enlarge, 1280 x 1024 pix)

Product of the viable cross of two relatively closely related eucalypt taxa (both E. gunnii and E. nitens belong to subgenus Symphyomyrtus, Section Maidenaria, and differ just as part of Series Orbiculares and Series Globulares respectively, so they are somewhat "close cousins") , this particular interserial hybrid combination would be very unlikely without human intervention, since each species has its habitat at one side of the Bass Strait.

Fig. 2: Complementary botanical assessment of E. gunnii x nitens depicting the juvenile organs of both parent species and the hybrid cross. (Click image to enlarge, 1024 x 768 px).

Interestingly, Martin's tree shows some of the well desired effects of heterosis, and of a lucky combination of inherited good form, fast growth and cold hardiness. Precisely, if at some point we hinted that E. globulus x nitens could be of interest for some addition of cold hardiness to a benchmark species for short rotation timber plantations, this time the addition comes "on the other side of the frost spectrum".

Not in vain, fast growing E. nitens, a relatively cold hardy eucalypt species for temperate atlantic climates, able to tolerate a good number of frost events each winter but not extremely well adapted to harsh winters much beyond USDA Hardiness Zone 8a has, in this case, crossed with one of the cold hardiest eucalypts, the Tasmanian Cider Gum, able to survive in USDA Zone 7a. A promising sign for its, by now, good performance in an area of the world you would not instantly associate to the Australian trees.

Some Interesting Literature...

Listed below, some relevant bibliographic sources for cases like this, which could give the reader some insight on the mechanisms that made hybrid Eucalyptus trees like Martin's possible, and beyond possible, understandable. Reasons enough for compliments to be always sent to the Eucalyptus of France and Tasmania.

Cauvin B, Potts BM & Potts WC (1987). Eucalyptus: Hybridation artificielle - barrieres et hérédité des caracteres. Annales de Recherches Silvicoles 1986, AFOCEL, Paris. pp. 255-303.

Tibbits WN, & Reid JB (1987). Frost resistance in Eucalyptus nitens (Deane & Maiden) Maiden: genetic and seasonal aspects of variation. Australian Forest Research, 17 (1), 29-47 DOI: 0004-914X

Tibbits WN & Reid JB (1987). Frost Resistance in Eucalyptus nitens (Deane & Maiden) Maiden: Physiological Aspects of Hardiness. Australian Journal of Botany, 35 (3), 235-250. DOI: 10.1071/BT9870235

Griffin AR, Burgess IP & Wolf L (1988). Patterns of Natural and Manipulated Hybridisation in the Genus Eucalyptus L'Hérit. A Review. Australian Journal of Botany, 36 (1). DOI: 10.1071/BT9880041

Tibbits WN (1988). Germination and Morphology of Progeny From Controlled Pollinations of Eucalyptus nitens (Deane & Maiden) Maiden. Australian Journal of Botany, 36 (6). DOI: 10.1071/BT9880677

Tibbits WN (1989). Controlled Pollination Studies with Shining Gum (Eucalyptus nitens (Deane & Maiden) Maiden). Forestry, 62 (2), 111-126. DOI: 10.1093/forestry/62.2.111

Tibbits WN, Potts BM & Savva, MH (1991). Inheritance of freezing resistance in interspecific F1 hybrids of Eucalyptus. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 83 (1). DOI: 10.1007/BF00229235

Bookmark this Interesting Link...

Besides growing several cold hardy Eucalyptus species with good potential for survival in the Eastern coast of Jutland, our fellow forester Martin Reimers has started to put together a wonderful database of performance for recently cultivated Eucalyptus all over Denmark.

www.eucalyptus.dk = Eukalyptus i Danmark = The database of Eucalyptus Cultivation in Denmark

Besides a growing amount of information on the history of Eucalyptus cultivation in Denmark, at www.eukalyptus.dk you can find fine photographic examples of E. gunnii (Cider Gum), E. gunnii x nitens, E. perriniana (Spinning Gum), E. dalrympleana (Mountain White Gum), E. pauciflora ssp. debeuzevillei (Jounama Snow Gum), E. pauciflora (White Sallee), E. nitens (Shining Gum), E. urnigera (Urn Fruited Gum) E. rubida (Candlebark), E. barberi (Barber's Gum), E. coccifera (Tasmanian Snow Gum), E. johnstonii (Tasmanian Yellow Gum), E. subcrenulata (Alpine Yellow Gum) and E. delegatensis (Alpine Ash) including detailed records of their cultivation and behaviour in such an apparently impossible location as the fjords, plains and islands of Denmark.

Some of these grow in the grounds of tree famous places as Copenhagen's Botanical Garden , recent receiver of Eucalyptus wedding gifts of Australia to Crown Princes Frederik and Mary; or as Hørsholm Arboretum, the largest collection of trees and shrubs in Denmark. But many do thrive also in the gardens of adventurous horticulturalists and private plant collectors scattered over the country, proving that at least the cold hardiest species within the genus can survive and bloom in yet another piece of Scandinavia.

Also in EUCALYPTOLOGICS... THE EUCALYPTUS OF THE FJORDS

Northernmost flowering Eucalyptus: E. dalrympleana at 61ºN in the Norwegian Fjords

Visit Frank Diron's Little Australia growing at Fanø Island in Denmark!

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© 2007-2009 Gustavo Iglesias Trabado. Please contact us if you want to use all or part of this text and photography elsewhere. We like to share, but we do not like rudeness.

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Kraft Process: Eucalyptus woodchip impregnation... by Celso Foelkel

Kraft Liquor Impregnation on Eucalyptus Wood Chips during Pulp Cooking

by Celso Foelkel

(Click image to enlarge)

Summary of Contents

• Introduction on the Kraft Process
• Basic concepts on Eucalyptus wood chip impregnation
  
• Eucalyptus wood chips and a more efficient impregnation during Kraft cooking
  
• Cooking liquors and their impact on wood chip impregnation
  
• Eucalyptus wood anatomy and its impact on wood chip impregnation
• Wood chip pre-steaming: improving impregnation
• Summing up and reinforcing important concepts on wood chips and cooking
• Modelling the impregnation process
• New opportunities for wood chip impregnation
• Final Considerations
• References & Recommended literature

(Download: PDF 5.65 MB, 97 pages)

See other chapters of the EUCALYPTUS ONLINE BOOK

English version :: Portuguese version

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Technical coordination - Celso Foelkel
Webmaster / editing - Alessandra Foelkel
Celsius Degree: Phone (+55-51) 3338-4809
Copyright © 2007-2010

Eucalyptus Online Book & Newsletter are technical information texts written and made available free of charge to all people involved with the forestry and utilization of the Eucalyptus. It depends only on registering yourself to receive them.

This knowledge oriented service was made possible through sponsoring support provided by ABTCP - Brazilian Technical Association of Pulp and Paper and by Botnia, International Paper do Brasil, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates , Suzano and Votorantim Celulose e Papel. The opinions expressed in the texts are those of the author or coming from the referenced technical literature. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.

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Journey in Eucalyptus country - by Charles Darwin

The Voyage of the Beagle: Wanderings of Charles Darwin in Australia

Or... Happy Darwin Year... from Eucalyptus country!

January 12th-15th, 1836

"Early in the morning a light air carried us towards the entrance of Port Jackson (...) At last we anchored within Sydney Cove (...) My first feeling was to congratulate myself that I was born an Englishman"

"I hired a man and two horses to take me to Bathurst, a village about one hundred and twenty miles in the interior, and the centre of a great pastoral district (...) Everywhere we have an open woodland"

"The trees nearly all belong to one family, and mostly have their leaves placed in a vertical, instead of as in Europe, in a nearly horizontal position: the foliage is scanty, and of a peculiar pale green tint, without any gloss. Hence the woods appear light and shadowless: this, although a loss of comfort to the traveller under the scorching rays of summer, is of importance to the farmer, as it allows grass to grow where it otherwise would not (...)"

" The greater number of the trees, with the exception of some of the Blue-gums, do not attain a large size; but they grow tall and tolerably straight, and stand well apart. The bark of some of the Eucalypti falls annually, or hangs dead in long shreds which swing about with the wind (...) I cannot imagine a more complete contrast, in every respect, than between the forests of Valdivia or Chiloe, and the woods of Australia"

January 17-19th, 1836

"Early in the morning we passed the Nepean in a ferry-boat (...) Having crossed a low piece of land on the opposite side, we reached the slope of the Blue Mountains"

"On the summit an almost level plain extends, which, rising imperceptibly to the westward, at last attains a height of more than 3000 feet (...) the view of the extensive woodland to the east was striking, and the surrounding trees grew bold and lofty (...) each side of the road is bordered by scrubby trees of the never-failing Eucalyptus family (...) Mr. Archer, the joint superintendent, had the kindness to take me out kangaroo-hunting (...) The woodland is generally so open that a person on horseback can gallop through it. It is traversed by a few flat-bottomed valleys, which are green and free from trees: in such spots the scenery was pretty like that of a park"

January 30th - February 6th, 1836

"The Beagle sailed for Hobart Town in Van Diemen's Land. On the 5th of February, after a six days' passage, of which the first part was fine, and the latter very cold and squally, we entered the mouth of Storm Bay: the weather justified this awful name. (...) The climate here is damper than in New South Wales, and hence the land is more fertile"

"I ascended Mount Wellington; I took with me a guide, for I failed in a first attempt, from the thickness of the wood. Our guide (...) conducted us to the southern and damp side of the mountain, where the vegetation was very luxuriant; and where the labour of the ascent, from the number of rotten trunks, was almost as great as on a mountain in Tierra del Fuego or in Chiloe. It cost us five and a half hours of hard climbing before we reached the summit."

Mount Wellington's Peppermint - Eucalyptus coccifera, the Tasmanian Snow Gum. Plate photography courtesy Mark Hanna. Plate botanical commentary courtesy Dean Nicolle. (Click image to enlarge)

"In many parts the Eucalypti grew to a great size, and composed a noble forest. In some of the dampest ravines, tree ferns flourished in an extraordinary manner; I saw one which must have been at least twenty feet high to the base of the fronds, and was in girth exactly six feet. The fronds forming the most elegant parasols, produced a gloomy shade, like that of the first hour of the night.

"The summit of the mountain is broad and flat, and is composed of huge angular masses of naked greenstone. Its elevation is 3100 feet above the level of the sea. The day was splendidly clear, and we enjoyed a most extensive view; to the north, the country appeared a mass of wooded mountains, of about the same height with that on which we were standing, and with an equally tame outline: to the south the broken land and water, forming many intricate bays, was mapped with clearness before us. After staying some hours on the summit, we found a better way to descend, but did not reach the Beagle till eight o'clock, after a severe day's work."

February 7th-March 12th, 1836

"The Beagle sailed from Tasmania, and, on the 6th of the ensuing month, reached King George's Sound, situated close to the S. W. corner of Australia"

"The scenery resembled that of the high sandstone platform of the Blue Mountains; the Casuarina (a tree somewhat resembling a Scotch fir) is, however, here in greater number, and the Eucalyptus in rather less. In the open parts there were many grass-trees, a plant which, in appearance, has some affinity with the palm; but, instead of being surmounted by a crown of noble fronds it can boast merely of a tuft of very coarse grass-like leaves. The general bright green colour of the brushwood and other plants, viewed from a distance, seemed to promise fertility"

March 14th, 1836

"(...) Farewell, Australia! you are a rising child, and doubtless some day will reign a great princess in the South (...)"

Charles Darwin (1839). The voyage of the Beagle. Chapter XIX: Australia.

Editor's Notes

The written accounts of Charles Darwin [1809-1882] and his exploration travel around the world must be understood, beyond the importance of his figure for the evolution of scientific knowledge, as also the product of an educated young man of his time. He was 22 years old when joining the staff of HMS Beagle as naturalist.

By the time of his visit to Australia, the new settlements had not yet got rid of its perceived status as a penal colony, and his views on social and cultural elements of each visited area might shock current readers. We recommend reading the full versions, and we take cover for our "excerpted edition" highlighting Australia and its eucalypts under the umbrella of "Editore, traitore"!

Acknowledgements

To the volunteers and contributors to Project Gutenberg, for delivering the old works to the new digital worlds. To Mark Hanna at TasBushBlog, for kindly letting us use photographs from his naturalistic wanderings around Mount Welllington Peppermints in the land of Van Diemen. To Dean Nicolle at Currency Creek Arboretum for following the footprints of Eucalyptus botanists and contributing to understand better their taxonomy and evolutive path. And, of course, to Charles Darwin, who would very possibly be amused of the evolution of information resources in the last century.

Also in Eucalyptologics... History Snippets...

Eucalyptus Kewensis: the first cultivated eucalypt

The footprints of Citizen Labillardière: Discovering the Prince of the Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus Paulistana or... The man who planted 24 million Eucalyptus...

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© 2007-2009 Gustavo Iglesias Trabado. Please contact us if you want to use all or part of this text and photography elsewhere. We like to share, but we do not like rudeness.

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EUCALYPTOLOGICS celebrates its 2nd Birthday!

TODAY IS EUCALYPTOLOGICS BLOGOVERSARY!

Just two years ago we placed a small seed in the digital world, well hidden in the blogosphere forest. And after some careful nurturing, EUCALYPTOLOGICS, the weblog providing information resources on sustainable Eucalyptus cultivation around the world... is now a nicely growing seedling!

As of May 2009, we have reached +125 countries and +3500 cities (more than doubling Eucalyptologics first year reach) around the world.

Geographic distribution of EUCALYPTOLOGICS readers during Year 2. Data courtesy Google Analytics

As usual with any online resource, the largest pool of readers is USA based. But quite remarkably, EUCALYPTOLOGICS readership has grown a +470% (!!) in South America, and a +220% both in India and South East Asia; while more than doubling in Europe, North America and Australia.

Statistical indicators of EUCALYPTOLOGICS evolution during its first two years. Data courtesy Google Analytics.

Accounting 2008 only, EUCALYPTOLOGICS has received especially interesting visitors too: +275 Academic Organizations (Universities, Colleges, High Schools, etc), +275 relevant Corporate Firms (Forestry & other Primary Resources, Industry & Services, Biotechnology, etc) and +100 Governmental Agencies (Local, Regional, National and International) have joined our small boat at some point last year.

You can have a look at that 2008 Visitor List if interested. And the 2009 Visitor List keeps growing very well at the moment, and will be disclosed in due course!

Many thanks to all our readers for making it possible!

Top 15 Stories at Eucalyptologics (Year 2: 2008-2009)

1) Eucalyptus Cultivation Global Map 2008

Eucalyptus universalis: Cultivated Eucalypt Forests Global Map 2008

2) By their fruits ye shall know em: Eucalyptus species identification

Tips & Tricks for Botanical Sampling and Eucalyptus Species Identification

3) Pruning ornamental eucalypts: Eucalyptus gunnii example

Sculpting ornamental Eucalyptus in a temperate Galician garden

4) Eucalyptus: the Giants of Spain and Portugal

Discover the Karri Knight and Grandpa, giant eucalypts in Iberia

5) Growing Eucalyptus from Seed: the Devil is in the details

Tips & Tricks for successful Eucalyptus seedling raising at nursery

6) 100% Eucalyptus timber built home in Galicia (NW Spain)

Plus a catalogue of architectural, decorative and furniture uses of Eucalyptus globulus wood

7) Centurion: World's Tallest Eucalyptus tree found

Tallest Eucalyptus discovered in Tasmania: E. regnans

8) The Fallen Forests: Legacy of Storm Klaus (Jan 2009) over Eucalyptus, Pines and Poplars of South Western Europe

Gone with the wind...

9) Global Timber Resource Maps: Eucalyptus globulus

Tasmanian Blue Gum Cultivated Forests Worldwide

10) Storm Klaus wipes out Eucalypt & Pine forests in Spain & France

Largest Eucalyptus & Pinus cultivated forests in Europe blown down?

11) Tallest tree in Africa climbed. You guessed... Eucalyptus!

Eucalyptus saligna & Eucalyptus regnans: Giants of South Africa

12) Eucalyptus Bonsai: grow them indoors

Did you know Eucalyptus Bonsai growing was possible?

13) Eucalyptus flowers: E. pauciflora in bloom

Snow Gums: cold hardy Eucalyptus from Alpine Australia. Notes on taxonomy and cultivation in cold temperate climates.

14) Eucalyptus International: Global Plants

Photo Gallery depicting eucalypt cultivation in many countries around the world

15) Container Grown Ornamental Eucalyptus: Add an Australian Touch to Your Garden

Ornamental Eucalyptus: a specialised Plant Nursery Production

Contact us / Subscribe to EUCALYPTOLOGICS...

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© 2007-2008 Gustavo Iglesias Trabado. Please contact us if you want to use all or part of this text and photography elsewhere. We like to share, but we do not like rudeness.

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Cold hardy Eucalyptus forestry in Galicia (III): when spring comes...

Eucalypts at Full Gallop!

Gustavo Iglesias Trabado
GIT Forestry Consulting - Consultoría y Servicios de Ingeniería Agroforestal - www.git-forestry.com - EUCALYPTOLOGICS

As we leave behind the last pieces of the cold and dark season and we approach the next summer solstice, the available energy from longer photoperiods finds plenty of building materials in abundant soil water reservoirs resulting from a rainy winter. Impulsed by increasingly mild temperature trends our local eucalypt plantations in Galicia are forced to stretch their muscles and start increasing their growth rhythm from a "slow pace" to a"full gallop".

Fig. 1: Example of a unpruned unthinned high site index cold hardy Eucalyptus nitens plantation growing on ex-agricultural deep acidic soils. Balanced fertility enhances rapid growth and a pasture understorey is well kept by intensive grazing [*]. Note the tall and slender crowns, and the large amount of discarded dead branches along the trunk. (Click image to enlarge)

Depending on tree age and planting design, and depending on the silvicultural strategy followed, this full gallop will mean either fast growth in height as each tree builds new food factories (also known as leaves) to replace the "obsolete" (less efficient due to shading, which impairs photosynthesis) ones in a fierce race to the sky... or a more gradual filling up of larger available spaces, building wider live crowns and increasing their girth.

Variations on the first case are the common ones to implement simple management strategies, and the most suitable to try to maximise tonnage per cultivated surface unit. Hence, the classical production process for pulpwood, or, these days, biomass crops (energy crops).

Fig 2: Eucalyptus polyculture: pasture plus pruned and thinned trees producing high value logs following a multi-product agroforestry management regime. Note the pruned basal logs, wider spacing obtained through thinning, and larger alive crowns. (Click image to enlarge)

The second case, less common as it involves a bit more (but not that much!!) complex production processes, tries to maximise value produced per surface unit. It can allow the combined production of more than one timber types (logs "designed" to feed different industrial lines), including high value logs for select market niches, and it is largely compatible from early stages of the production cycle with other productive (hence, value generating) uses for understorey. A sensible agroforestry approach that can help optimise land resource uses for some afforestation scenarios.

No choice of these is better or worse. Each one of them can be technically and financially viable and each one is able to yield commercial primary products, generating a profit for the timber investor, and generating added value up the different timber industrial chains. What can be variable is the macro and microeconomics of these different approaches, and its attractiveness for investors depending on their profile. The main point is being able to allocate these alternatives in the right places, according to the preferences of investors and the constraints and advantages each particular area can offer. Regardless of where, if suitable, the more diverse production, the lower risks of financial dependence on commodity markets. Regardless of the choice, meanwhile, the trees will keep growing... at full gallop!

Also in Eucalyptologics...

Cold hardy Eucalyptus timber production in Galicia (NW Spain)

Cold hardy Eucalyptus frost damage assessment

Eucalyptus in the Snow: Pictorial views of cold hardy eucalypt plantations in NW Spain

Natural Regeneration in Eucalyptus: The odd case of coppicing E. nitens

Eucalyptus hybrids: Phenology of E. globulus and E. nitens in Galicia (NW Spain)

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© 2007-2009 Gustavo Iglesias Trabado. Please contact us if you want to use all or part of this text and photography elsewhere. We like to share, but we do not like rudeness.

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Testing Caterpillar Machinery in High Value Eucalyptus Plantations

Precision Silviculture in High Value Eucalyptus Plantations:

Testing Caterpillar Compact Machinery in Vegetation Clearing Activities

Gustavo Iglesias Trabado & Roberto Carballeira Tenreiro
GIT Forestry Consulting - Consultoría y Servicios de Ingeniería Agroforestal - www.git-forestry.com - EUCALYPTOLOGICS

You never know what benefits having a forestry blog as EUCALYPTOLOGICS can deliver... until it happens. Last week we were kindly invited by Caterpillar and Barloworld Finanzauto to see an Atomic Ant in operation. Sounds strange? Then, imagine what a yellow toy-sized Bulldozer Micro-Machine as big as your golf cart can do when CAT engined!

Fig. 1: Compact Multi-Terrain Loader Caterpillar CAT277C on forestry work operations in a High Value Eucalyptus Model Forest of Galicia (Northwestern Spain). (Click image to enlarge)

And the funniest part of it all is that these guys did let us drive the machine even if you are a noob like us who had never tried before. So, there it goes a video of it all in a nearby pine plantation (do not make risky experiments in model forests, do it at the neighbour's yard ;-).

Fig. 2: Eucalyptologics staff driving the CAT around a pine plantation, trying to imitate the scrub clearing and mulching operation done earlier by Barloworld-Finanzauto professionals... and failing miserably! (Click play to watch the video!).

Very comfortable noiseless pressurized cabin with hydraulic seat! And after some simple explanations by their staff you soon start to drive the CAT Atomic Ant by using two joysticks, same way as if you were piloting a X-Wing.

Fig. 3: CATERPILLAR - Barloworld Finanzauto Machinery Demonstration Team in Galicia (NW Spain), after a long day of testing the CAT 277C and the CAT mulcher HM 312. And some good laughs too. (Click image to enlarge)

So, after some fun, we got into the work part of the party. Which was nothing but a technical diagnosis of CAT 277C performance on forestry duty, quality of operation doing scrub slashing and soil mulching, unitary costs, efficiency and fuel thirstyness.

Fig. 4: GIT Forestry's Technical Evaluation of Compact Loader CAT 277C + Rotary Scrub Slasher CAT HM 312 while performing vegetation control and mulching activities in the Galician Highland Forests. (If interested in a larger version, just contact us!).

And particularly interesting for us, on the ability of this machine to work with high precision levels in this model forest, where damage caused by any operation to any standing tree has a bigger effect on the financial balance of a high value timber investment than in the case of a standard timber plantation!.

Fig. 5: GIT Forestry Consulting managed High Value Eucalyptus Model Forest is open to forestry machinery testing and any type of collaborative forestry research (Click image to enlarge)

The results were very promising. However, as with any machinery option, it is a balanced comparison of a range of technical factors what gives you a solid ground in which compare brands, machines, accessories... and cost/benefit ratios.

One thing is however certain. If a kid can drive Oddball's Sherman...

... then almost anyone can drive this CAT!

Acknowledgements

Contact / subscribe to Eucalyptologics

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