EUCALYPTOLOGICS: GIT Forestry Consulting Information Resources on Eucalyptus Cultivation Worldwide :: EUCALYPTOLOGICS: GIT Forestry Consulting Recursos de Informacion sobre Cultivo Sostenible de Eucalyptus :: Information Resources on Eucalyptus Cultivation Worldwide

Sir David Attenborough has been travelling the world for the last 50 years to show us the wonders of nature in all its forms. There are so many amazing moments captured in film with him around that choosing just one is a though choice. But this is EUCALYPTOLOGICS, the Eucalyptus Blog, so the natural choice has to be witnessing a Giant among Giants showing us King Regnans. Enjoy the Mountain Ash in its old growth Australian forest habitat!

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King Regnans Giant Eucalyptus video courtesy of BBC

Originally released by 1995, the Peabody Award Winner nature documentary The Private Life of Plants by the BBC is a striking trip around the world to unveil the secrets of plant evolution, adaptation and struggle for survival in this ever changing world we all have the priviledge to warden.

Attenborough's comments wisely blended with amazing photography and Richard Grassby-Lewis' musical companion make this piece of art a milestone in the divulgation of botany, biogeography, ecology and environmental science. And the 7 minute long piece on Eucalyptus is certainly worth watching. But do not forget the other 285 minutes!

BBC The Private Life of Plants DVD / Sir David Attenborough

Get BBC's The Private Life of Plants DVD's from BBC Shop Online

The Private Life of Plants Soundtrack / Richard Grassby-Lewis

Get The Private Life of Plants Soundtrack from 2ndSight

Chasing... the Tallest Trees in Europe

Australian Botanist Dr Dean Nicolle, German Geoecologist Annett Boerner from the Max Planck Society and Spanish forester Gustavo Iglesias from GIT Forestry trek the coastal eucalypt rainforest of Spain and Portugal to measure and assess the tallest Eucalyptus trees in Europe / El botanico australiano Dr Dean Nicolle, la Geoecologa alemana Annett Boerner de la Sociedad Max Planck para el Avance de la Ciencia y el forestal Gustavo Iglesias de GIT Forestry exploran el bosque lluvioso costero de eucalipto de España y Portugal para medir y evaluar algunos de los arboles mas altos de Europa / Gustavo Iglesias Trabado, Roberto Carballeira Tenreiro and Javier Folgueira Lozano / GIT Forestry Consulting SL, Consultoría y Servicios de Ingeniería Agroforestal, Lugo, Galicia, España, Spain / Eucalyptologics, information resources on Eucalyptus cultivation around the world / Eucalyptologics, recursos de informacion sobre el cultivo del eucalipto en el mundo

So what if you received an unexpected call asking you to join a Giant Tree Trek visiting what probably are the tallest trees in Europe... and you said "Yes, Sir (of course!!!)"?

More Eucalyptus Giants around this site

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Eucalyptus fastigata & Eucalyptus sieberi in Galicia: Siblings of Tasmanian Oak

Gustavo Iglesias Trabado

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

We bring you today two rare examples of Ash ("Fraxinus wood like") Eucalyptus growing in Galicia (Northwestern Spain).

Eucalyptus fastigata and Eucalyptus sieberi in Galicia Northwestern Spain Eucalipto fastigiado y Eucalipto de Sieber en Galicia España GIT Forestry Consulting

Fig.1: Eucalyptus fastigata and Eucalyptus sieberi in Galicia, Northwestern Spain. (Click to enlarge)

To the left, E. fastigata, the Brown Barrel, with natural habitat ranging from the highlands of Gippsland (Victoria) through the Great Dividing Range to New England (New South Wales) in Australia. To the right, E. sieberi, the Silvertop Ash or Black Ash, with natural habitat in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

Both species belong to series Obliquae, being close relatives of other relatively cold hardy Monocalyptus as E. pauciflora and its remarkable frost tolerant subspecies niphophila and debeuzevillei, E. delegatensis and its subspecies, E. regnans, E. gregsoniana, E. fraxinoides, E. lacrimans and, of course, E. obliqua.

The Brown Barrel received its botanical name after its columnar and stylised growth habit ("fastigatum") and the Black Ash honours Franz Wilhelm Sieber (1789-1844), a Czech-German botanist that, among other travels around the world and plant collections, visited New South Wales by 1823 and collected and later named E. pauciflora. So responsible of a funny eucalyptic fact.

Two groups of eucalypts are commonly cultivated worldwide within this Monocalyptus / Obliquae part of taxonomy. One one hand, the Snow Gums, that have spread to temperate areas of the world because of their extreme tolerance to cold, ability to resist frost and snow.

Tasmanian Oak Eucalyptus in Galicia, Northwestern Spain / Roble de Tasmania en Galicia, España / GIT Forestry Consulting, Consultoría y Servicios de Ingeniería Agroforestal

Fig. 2: Giant specimen of Eucalyptus obliqua (Tasmanian Oak) in Galicia, Northwestern Spain

On the other hand and thinking now in timber terms, the Tasmanian Oaks or Robles de Tasmania, not all of them really Tasmanian, but that could be grouped within that commercial name for lumber considerations. These are known all over the world for their excellent wood properties and noble uses as splendid furniture or beautiful flooring.

Fig. 3: Eucalyptus delegatensis ssp. tasmaniensis (Tasmanian Oak) timber plantation in Galicia, Northwestern Spain. (Click to enlarge)

With suitable silviculture including pruning and thinning, appropriate genetic background for the seedlings used in reafforestation and some patience using longer rotation cycles, Tasmanian Oak can be an interesting alternative for high value timber production in cold temperate areas of Northwestern Spain. Its fast growth compared to conifers and other broadleaved species and higher tolerance to frost than E. globulus make it suitable for farm forestry in the highlands.

Interesting literature

Brooker, M.I.H. (1977) Internal bud morphology, seedling characters and classification of the ash group of euclaypts. Australian Forest Research 7(3):197-207
Wilcox, M.D. (1979) The ash group of eucalypts. New Zealand Journal of Forestry Science 9(2):133–144.
Revell, D.H. (1981) Silviculture of eucalypts: New Zealand experience. In "Wood: Future Growth and Conversion". Workshop Proceedings, Canberra, Australia. Bachelard E. P. & Hillis W. E. (eds.)
Wilcox, M.D. (1982) Genetic variance in frost tolerance, early height growth and incidence of forking among and within provenances of Eucalyptus fastigata. New Zealand Journal of Forestry Science 12(3):510–524.
Haslett, A.N. (1988) A guide to handling and grade-sawing plantation-grown eucalypts. New Zealand Forest Research Institute. FRI Bulletin Nº 142.
Barr, N. (1996) Growing Eucalypt Trees for Milling on New Zealand Farms. New Zealand Farm Forestry Association Inc.