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| Phyllcocladus aspleniifolius |
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Scientific
Name Phyllcocladus aspleniifolius
The Tree
One of the best known of Tasmania's native conifers.
Medium-sized, commonly 20-30m tall and .5-.9m
in diameter. The stem is usually well-formed even
when growing on very poor soils. Lower branches
are usually horizontal and occur in whorls. Bark
is dark grey or reddish brown with numerous bark
pores which give it a knobbly appearance, often
deeply furrowed in older trees. Grows very slowly,
and trees with a diameter of .6m are commonly
up to 400 years old. The oldest known trees are
about 800 years old. Can easily be identified
by its distinctive celery-like foliage.
Leaves, Cones & Seeds
"Leaves" on mature plants are really
flattened, highly modified branches. These look
like leathery, irregularly lobed leaves 3-8cm
long, 2cm wide. Very young seedlings have needle-like
leaves. The pollen and seed are borne in modified
cones. Both male and female cones are very small.
Seeds are black, partially closed in a white membrane
which is set in a fleshy purple receptacle. Birds
eat the receptacles and can disperse seed over
long distances.
Habitat
Occurs only in Tasmania. Common in the west of
the State and also occurs in isolated patches
in the east. A dominant tree in cool temperate
rainforest, an understorey tree in eucalypt forest,
and can occur as a shrub in alpine vegetation.
Most abundant on poor soils and is often associated
with a dense tangled understorey
Timber
The timber is a pale straw colour when freshly cut
and darkens to a pleasing gold with age. It is hard,
strong and dense (650kg/m at 12% moisture content)
and has no odour or taste. Relatively heavy for
a pine. It is durable in contact with the ground
if the sapwood is removed. It has good dimensional
stability in cross section but can shrink along
its length upon drying. There are a large number
of knots, particularly in timbers from smaller trees
Uses
Boat building, joinery, bench tops, flooring. In
recent years it has become popular for external
cladding in houses. It is also used for outdoor
and indoor furniture, kitchen cupboards and wall
panelling. It is suitable for turning especially
for spindle work.
Availability
The annual cut is about 6000m3, mostly by sawmills
in the North West. In recent years kiln-dried as
well as green timber is being sold, and in a variety
of mouldings.
Related
species
There are three other species in the genus Phyllocladus.
Two, P. ipinus and P. trichomanoides occur in New
Zealand and the other, P. hypophyllus is found in
New Guines, Borneo, the Celebes, the Moluccas and
the Phillipines.
Contributed by Brian G Forster, Tasmania from
a Tasmanian Forestry Commission leaflet. Thanks
Brian |
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