Citizen Labillardiere's Heritage: Recherche Bay and the discovery of Eucalyptus globulus

The Footprints of Citizen Labillardière

Chronology of the discovery of Eucalyptus globulus

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

21 September 1791 - Brest, France

Commanded by Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni D'Entrecasteaux and Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec, two converted merchant vessels, La Recherche (Research) and L'Espérance (Hope) set sail from the coast of Brittany en route to the Southern Seas to look for Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse, who had vanished with the Astrolabe and the Boussole after exploring Botany Bay three years earlier.

Onboard, among the team of savant naturalistes, a botanist that would play a significant role for Eucalyptology: Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière.

22 April 1792 - Recherche Bay, Van Diemen's Land

"With every step, one encounters the beauties of unspoilt nature … trees reaching a very great height and proportionate diameter … are devoid of branches along the trunk, but crowned with an everlasting green foliage. Some of these trees seem as ancient as the world"

Bruni d’Entrecasteaux

"The eye is astonished in contemplating the prodigious size of these trees … whose tufted summits were crowned with an ever verdant foliage: others, loosened by age from their roots, were supported by neighbouring trees, whilst, as they gradually decayed, they were incorporated … with the parent-earth … a striking picture of the operations of nature, who, left to herself, never destroys but that she may again create. (...) We were filled with admiration at the sight of these ancient forests, in which the sound of the axe had never been heard."

Jacques-Julien de Labillardière

6 May 1792- Recherche Bay, Van Diemen's Land

"To judge from Labillardière’s own account, 6 May 1792 was a day of considerable satisfaction, for this was his most noteworthy discovery, when he had a Tasmanian Blue Gum felled to collect flowers (...) Its great height proved a source of wonderment, but satisfaction also, for its tall straight trunk appeared to hold potential for ship building. To his delight, the carpenters found blue gum timbers the most suitable for providing planks to raise the gunwales on the oared boats. Labillardière could hardly have anticipated the great commercial advantages of his discovery: that it was introduced rapidly around the world as a cultivar, becoming the species by which the genus Eucalyptus became internationally known; that by 1905 four million feet of its timber would be supplied to the British Admiralty for wharf piles; that today more than 1.3 million hectares of E. globulus are planted outside Australia and 0.4 million hectares of plantation within Australia; or that Tasmania would adopt it as its State floral emblem."

John Mulvaney

1800 - Paris, France

Voyage in search of La Pérouse, Performed by order of the Constituent Assembly, During the Years 1791, 1792, 1793 and 1794 is published, and Eucalyptus globulus, plus E. cornuta officially described to enter the world of botanical discoveries.

8 February 2006 - Recherche Bay, Tasmania

RechercheBay.org

Recherche Bay is declared National Heritage Site and will be managed by Tasmanian Land Conservancy to preserve the landscape witnessed and the footprints left by Citizen Labillardière. The sound of the axe will not be heard again.

Recommended Books

Duyker, E. ( 2003) Citizen Labillardière. A naturalist's life in revolution and exploration (1755-1834). Melbourne University Press. ISBN : 0-522-85160-6

Mulvaney, J. (2006). ‘The axe had never sounded’: place, people and heritage of Recherche Bay, Tasmania. Aboriginal History Monograph 14. Australian National University Press. ISBN: 9781921313202. ISBN: 9781921313219 (Online)

WE DO NOT HAVE ANY OF THESE REFERENCES IN OUR EUCALYPTIC LIBRARY. DONATIONS WOULD BE GRATEFULLY WELCOME (OF COURSE!)

(If you are to order it from somewhere, just order two copies and send me one to Spain!)

GIT's Eucalyptology Topics

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© 2007 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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Eucalyptus timber: not just pulpwood

Complementary industrial lines with Eucalyptus wood in Northern Spain
Or how Eucalyptus globulus yields sawn timber, veneer, laminated wood, MDF board and furniture besides high quality cellulosic pulp

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

EUCALYPTOLOGICS

Northern Spain, with a climate similar to Tasmania, shares also part of its landscape

Sourcing with Northern Portugal the majority of all Eucalyptus timber produced in Iberia

And the uses of Eucalyptus wood produced here are as diverse as the trees are


Photography of applied uses for Eucalyptus lumber courtesy of CIS-Madera. (Centro de Innovación y Servicios Tecnológicos de la Madera de Galicia)


Useful Links & Literature on Eucalyptus wood uses in Galicia

• EUROGLOBULUS: Manual de la Madera de Eucalipto Blanco / Eucalyptus globulus Timber Manual

• Nuevas aplicaciones de la madera de eucalipto / New industrial lines with eucalypt timber [PDF, in Spanish]

• Producción de Madera de Sierra de Alta Calidad con Eucalyptus globulus / Production of high quality Eucalyptus globulus lumber for sawmilling [PDF, in Spanish]

• Sistemas de Aserrado adecuados para Eucalyptus globulus Europeos afectados por tensiones de crecimiento / Saw-milling Systems for European Eucalyptus globulus affected by growth stresses [PDF, in Spanish]

• Una propuesta industrial de secado de madera de Eucalipto blanco (Eucalyptus globulus) de Galicia / An industrial proposal for Eucalyptus globulus wood kiln drying [PDF, in Spanish]

• Tecnologías de Secado de la Madera de Eucalipto/Eucalyptus Wood Drying Technologies

• Get "Eucalyptus: wood applications" catalogue for free! detailing finished works that use Eucalyptus globulus sawn timber, architectural wood based boards, furniture and structural elements for indoor and outdoor design. (PDF)

Not just Eucalyptus...

See also a very nice publication by CIS-Madeira on the most common type of timber grown in Northern Spain, the Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster ssp. atlantica), and its industrial aplications.

ATLANWOOD - Industrial Aplications of Pinus pinaster

Other interesting links...

One to prevent our friend Fernando Sepliarsky, author of a nice paper entitled "Nuevos usos industriales de la madera de Eucalyptus globulus" [PDF] from asking again "so where is the Tasmanian Oak?" and finding no answer

TASMANIAN OAK: Roble de Tasmania in Galicia (NW Spain)

One to illustrate that the key concept of variability in Eucalyptus affects also the several types of eucalypt timber produced using cold hardy frost tolerant species in the Highlands of Northwestern Spain. Not everything is E. globulus.

Cold hardy Eucalyptus timber production in Galicia (NW Spain)


Want to know more?

Contact GIT Forestry Consulting - Eucalyptologics

GIT's Eucalyptology Topics

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Eucalyptus species identification: bark is not always enough

By their fruits ye shall know them
Small tips on Eucalyptus Identification

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

EUCALYPTOLOGICS

Eucalyptus species determination is not just a matter of botanical interest. It can be quite important for its implications in regard to the different genetic pools (be them species, subspecies, provenances, or races) in cultivation. Important issues as cold hardiness (tolerance to winter frosts), growth rates (timber productivity) and physical and chemical properties of wood (timber quality) can depend on this variability, and hence be subject of forestry engineering.

Fig. 1: Two types of Ash ("Fraxinus wood-like") Eucalyptus: Tasmanian Oak

Telling Eucalyptus species apart can be difficult or confusing if differentiation criteria are based on a limited amount of variables. Bark type and characteristics can be one of the criteria for species identification, and can be considerably useful sometimes because some species are so strikingly different nothing else is needed. The chances of using bark successfully as "main criterium" are better for areas where eucalypts are introduced species, simply because the number of possibilities tends to be more limited than in a multispecific natural forest in Australia.

Fig 2: Examples of distinct bark characteristics in different Eucalyptus species

However, bark based identification can also be misleading. Pictured above (Fig. 1) you have two different types of eucalypts. If based on "bark only" criteria, maybe the first thought is they are two different species. But in fact, we are seeing two types of eucalypt belonging to the same species, but different gene pools. Both are Alpine Ash, a type of Tasmanian Oak (Roble de Tasmania).

Fig 3: Mature stand of rough barked Tasmanian Oak in the central plateau of Galicia, Spain

To the left (Fig. 1), the classical form, rough stringy bark in the lower portion of the main stem, clean withish bark in the upper portion and in the main branches. In mainland Southeastern Australia it has also received the vernacular name of "White Top". To the right, a variant, rough stringy persistant bark almost to the very top and on the main branches too. The latter type is restricted to natural habitats in Tasmania.

So, what the botanists say about this? Let's read Dean Nicolle:

• Eucalyptus delegatensis subsp. delegatensis (mainland Australia Alpine Ash) "Single stemmed tree 30 to 60 metres tall (...) Bark rough on the trunk up to 10 to 30 metres above ground level, moderately fissured and hard-fibrous, grey-brown; smooth above, ribbony, grey to pale grey over white"
  

• Eucalyptus delegatensis subsp. tasmaniensis (also known as E. tasmaniensis) "Single stemmed tree 20 to 90 metres tall (...) Bark rough over most of the entire trunk, moderately fissured and stringy-fibrous, grey brown to red-brown, smooth on branches, pale grey over cream"
  

An encouraging bark-based diagnosis indeed. But, back to the initial point, given the high chances of confusing both these types of eucalypt with others of the Ash type (E. obliqua, E. fastigata, E. regnans sometimes), and the extra options given by the possibility for some of these species to produce hybrid seed when grown in close spatial relationship, bark can help in some cases.

Fig. 4: Example of botanical sample gathering methodology for accurate Eucalyptus species identification (Click to enlarge)

But the most important information to work out what Eucalyptus we are seeing and defining geographically the original gene pools is to be sourced from comparison of flower buds and seed pods (fruit capsules) (Fig. 4) for the case of adult trees.

Fig. 5: Example of mature Eucalyptus specimen bearing flower buds and seed pods (capsules), essential organs for accurate Eucalyptus species identification. (Click image to enlarge).

Of course, once these trees are able to lure us into patient observation of their flower blooms and their seed bearing capsules in order to get them identified, little is left before you start collecting the later to obtain seed, and attempt to raise some plants.

Interesting links

Eucalyptus species identification (II): bark revisited

Fig. 6a: Example of "bark only" diagnosis misleading Eucalyptus species identification

Eucalyptus species identification (III): fruits & buds may be enough!

Fig. 6b: Example of "fruit & bud" diagnosis correctly leading to Eucalyptus species identification

Eucalyptus species identification (IV): fruits only may also work!

Fig. 6c: Example of "fruit only" diagnosis correctly leading to Eucalyptus species identification

Eucalyptus species identification (V): leaves may help!

Fig. 6d: Example of "leaf helped" diagnosis correctly leading to Eucalyptus species identification

Eucalyptus species identification (VI): hybrid mysteries uncovered!

Fig. 6e: Example of "compared traits" diagnosis correctly leading to Hybrid Eucalyptus identification

Eucalyptus Seed: Harvest it Right

Fig. 7: Different simultaneous stages of the reproductive cycle and eucalypt seed maturation process in a standing Snow Gum Eucalyptus tree.(Click to enlarge)

Eucalyptus Seed Collection: The Importance of Good Timing

Fig. 8: Maturation stages for eucalypt fruits collected on Corymbia calophylla trees in a single visit, showing some of the internal organs within Eucalyptus infrutescences in each phase. (Click to enlarge)

Eucalyptus from Seed: Some Key Concepts

Fig. 9: Examples of Eucalyptus seedling nursery stock for afforestation

Find a local expert to ID your Eucalyptus

If you have an unknown eucalypt around and you are able to collect and photograph samples of the key organs needed for identification, do not hesitate contacting GIT Forestry Consulting.

Contact GIT Forestry Consulting - Eucalyptologics

If you are in the USA and find it easier to post fresh samples to a local expert, you can also contact Dr. Matt Ritter, resident eucalypt hunter at the California Polytechnic State University.

GIT's Eucalyptology Topics

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© 2007 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 timber production in Galicia (NW Spain)

COLD HARDY EUCALYPTUS TIMBER GROWING & HARVESTING
A pictorial review of Eucalyptus Forestry in the Highlands of Galicia, Spain

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

Fig. 1: Example of Eucalyptus nitens tree growth (1): DBH-80 in less than 20 years. (Click to enlarge)

Fig. 2: Example of Eucalyptus nitens tree growth (2): DBH-20 in 6 years on a pulpwood silvicultural regime. (Click to enlarge)

Fig. 3: Cold temperate Eucalyptus pulpwood harvest operations in Galicia

1 - Basal logs: DBH-30 or bigger. Debarked on site and arranged on piles along a strip for easy operations of loading and extraction out of the forest.

2- Harvest coupe: 9 year old planting of Eucalyptus nitens (Shining Gum) at 500 m altitude on easily mechanisable tablelands.

3- Tree felling: Chainsaw operator approaching the new target and assessing the best tree felling angle. Depending on logistics of harvest this tree felling operation can be performed by an independent worker (as in this case) or by the machine at 5.

4- Typical tree: +20 meters high at a relatively high stocking (1100 trees/ha, could be less with no worries). 5 to 7 pulpwood logs per tree, 2 to 4 firewood logs per tree, 1 to 3 residual logs per tree.

5- Log processing: 4 step serial operations of handling, debranching, debarking and log cutting at desired length being performed by a forestry processor heavy machine.

6- Log loading and extraction: crane-aided loading on a timber trailer towed by a standard heavy duty agricultural tractor. From here to temporary loading yard for further loading on trucks.

7- Organic fertiliser for next crop: log processing residues (bark, branches, tree tops with leaves) remain on site to return the majority of nutrient uptake during crop maturation to the soil. They can be finely crushed in some weeks and later be partially incorporated during new planting operations as raw organic fertiliser or be arranged on strips and subject to controlled burning to use ash as fertiliser if season of the year and low forestry fire risk do allow it.

Interesting links

Eucalyptus timber: not just pulpwood

Tasmanian Oak: Roble de Tasmania in Galicia (NW Spain)


Eucalyptus & Snow: Winter Views of eucalypt timber plantations in Northwestern Spain


Contact GIT Forestry Consulting - Eucalyptologics

GIT's Eucalyptology Topics

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© 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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