Eucalyptus

TexasTimbers · January 25, 2009, 07:48:38 PM

I've been asked to identify some wood samples that are believed to be Eucalyptus. I agreed to try it, but recently had my hopes dashed when I read this on the Calif State Univ website:

"Of all the Australian plants, the eucalyptus species are the most difficult to distinguish from one another because of their physical similarity.126 The eucalyptus belongs to the Myrtaceae family in which there are ninety separate genera. In the eucalyptus genus there are over 600 species, and even this figure is an estimate, because there are numerous separate varieties that have a similar nomenclature. This is because trees within an eucalyptus grove grow closely to each other, producing many hybrids.127"

Ain't that just dandy. I have 3 different wood I.D. kits, several hundred specie samples, a 16x loupe . . . . all dressed up and no where to go though because I don't have a single sample of a Eucalytpus. But there are hundreds of species anyway so even if one of you had a small sample you could spare it would not likely be the same as what I have.

I have read quite a bunch on Eucalyptus the past week or so and "know" quite a bit about this wonderful species, but not how to identify the wood from samples. No luck finding close-up photos of end grain, I suppose because there are hundreds of species not to mention the endless hybrids.

My question to you I.D. aficionados is, would the cell structures be similar enough between species to make a "probable" I.D. anyway?

WildDog · January 25, 2009, 08:05:29 PM

Any chance of pics TT?

On or nearby our farm we have (Common names) Yellow, White Grey and Pink Box, Peppermint, Apple Gum, Red Gum, Blakelys Red Gum, Mugga and Narrow Leaf Iron Bark, Yellow and Red Stringy Bark to name a few.

TexasTimbers · January 25, 2009, 08:24:20 PM

WD,

I will surface these samples so you can see the colors fresh. They are very old as they sit. Dark and dirty. I will take some photos and post them. They are dense and the rings are very tight. Can't see some of them with the naked eye they are so tight.

I will try and get them posted later tonight.

beenthere · January 25, 2009, 08:34:30 PM

Use SD's scanner trick to blow up the prepared end grain. Works well.

Also, if in a pinch, send some samples to the Forest Products Lab, Madison, WI. If it can be done, they likely can do it.

And it might be that your original finding that you quoted is right on.

TexasTimbers · January 25, 2009, 11:17:31 PM

Dog,

Sorry about these terrible pictures. It's the best I can do right now. Hope you might get a clue from them one way or the other.

Dodgy Loner · January 26, 2009, 08:34:49 AM

That looks like eucalyptus to me. The pattern of pores on the endgrain is distinctive. Eucalypts don't really have rings like our trees do. The variations in the pore pattern has more to do with rainfall events than seasonal changes. Here's a closeup of eucalyptus endgrain.

TexasTimbers · January 26, 2009, 09:21:47 AM

Dodgy thanks for that excellent photo. I often link to the hobbit house for others but forget about it when I need it. :

Quote from: Dodgy Loner on January 26, 2009, 08:34:49 AMEucalypts don't really have rings like our trees do.

Maybe that's why I thought the rings were too tight to count. ;D

Tom · January 26, 2009, 04:37:11 PM

What kind of rings do they have? :P

TexasTimbers · January 26, 2009, 05:24:37 PM

Quote from: Tom on January 26, 2009, 04:37:11 PM
What kind of rings do they have? :P

They have the unringy type rings. Sort of like non-ringishly unrings.

"Unrings" that's it. Unrings sounds like a fast way to say onion rings. I prefer home-made, and I like to sop up a good dose of a 50/50 mixture of French's mustard and Cajun Sunshine hot pepper sauce with them. Ice cold A&W Root Beer served in a frosted mug compliments.

Man, I am hungry.

Tom · January 26, 2009, 05:39:16 PM

:-\

:D

Dodgy Loner · January 27, 2009, 08:13:33 AM

Well, most wood scientists would probably say that they don't have rings, and I could certainly see their point. But really, you'll notice "unrings" (as TT so eloquently put it), or bands of similarly sized pored that encircle the trunk. If you look at the closeup in the link I provide, you can see that the tree went for a while in some spots putting on very small, and very few, pores. These correspond to times when the ground was very dry, and the tree wasn't growing much. You can also see areas where the pores became much larger and spaced more closely. The tree puts on this type of growth when the ground is wet, so it can take up the moisture more efficiently. The result is that the bands of growth are very irregular, different from our native trees which exhibit the same general pattern of pore structure throughout each ring, although the individual rings will differ in size.

SwampDonkey · January 27, 2009, 10:46:54 AM

Probably, what they mean by it, is the annual growth doesn't end abruptly like in our region. Dodgy has explained it as good as anyone can.

TexasTimbers · January 27, 2009, 03:26:11 PM

I dreamed I built a canoe out of Eucalyptus last night. The canoe was purple though. :-\

Tom · January 27, 2009, 04:00:59 PM

I dreamed that Australians didn't celebrate birthdays and just had one cake that lasted them all of their lives. :D

TexasTimbers · January 27, 2009, 04:45:44 PM

Nah. Could never happen.

smiley_whacko smiley_tom_dizzy03

Yeah. We're iced in here too. Cabin fever. ;D

SwampDonkey · January 27, 2009, 04:58:13 PM

Tom, was that a cake, or a spare tire? :P

LeeB · January 27, 2009, 05:57:18 PM

You guys need to watch what you're smoking. :D :D

WDH · January 27, 2009, 11:15:32 PM

I have purposely stayed away from this thread

.

Tom · January 28, 2009, 08:46:49 AM

I dreamed.......... of a Yellow Submarine. ;D

TexasTimbers · January 28, 2009, 10:10:45 AM

Reckon what the limit is on a standard purple canoe? ;D

Tom · January 28, 2009, 03:08:42 PM

one. :D

SwampDonkey · January 28, 2009, 03:29:16 PM

Reminds me of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" when they were riding on back of the pickup to catch a train. Frost and ice cycles were hanging off their eye brows and nose hairs, the dog was froze solid with teeth g-r-i-t after traveling 30, maybe up to 70 miles on the way. Then Niel asks Del , "What do you think the temperature is?" He replied "ONE". :D :D

TexasTimbers · January 29, 2009, 12:03:21 AM

One . . . . menagerie.

WildDog · January 29, 2009, 05:41:23 AM

TT I thought i'd posted this a couple of days back, mustn't of took.

I showed the pics to a couple of guys at work that have milled east coast Aussie eucalypt, can't really help but can probably rule out Yellow, White, Grey Box, Scrub Box, Blue Gum, Spotted Gum, Black Butt and River Red Gum. It maybe Tallow Wood, Stringy Bark or at a slim chance Iron Bark.

On the West coast there is Karri and Jarrah but I don't know much about them.

Don't mind the axes I have been directed to sell my collection and these pics are for ebay :(, they show a table I made from 80yr old Stringy Bark fence posts I adzed down and dressed, the bottom pic has a stool made of rough Yellow Box(very cramky grained) from old cattle yard rails, if you look close you might makeout the growth rings on the tenons.

As mentioned our Euc's don't display anual growth rings, some seasons you might get a few others none, apart from the Blue Gum i don't know of any formulaes to tell the age.

If the samples were Box or IronBark you couldn't get a nail through it without a pilot hole, stringy barks not quite as dense and has a straighter grain.

Dodgy Loner · January 29, 2009, 09:31:03 AM

TT, did you say there were some eucalypts in those pictures? 'Cause all I can see are the axes smiley_blush Just kidding, that's some really nice work you did...Still can't believe you're selling the axes, though :-\