Stringy Bark, A Popular Eucalypt

The Stringy Bark can be any one of the various Eucalyptus tree species with their common feature of a fibrous and thick bark. All The Eucalypts actually belong to the Myrtaceae family.  In some very fertile soil, some stringybarks can be as tall as 90 meters in height. These tall trees are usually the Messmate Stringybark or Eucalyptus oblique. Stringybarks are commonly medium sized trees that can grow to a height from 10 to 40 meters.

 

A more popular Stringy Bark is the Eucalyptus oblique, which is also called as the Australian Oak, Stringbark, Brown Top, Messmate, Messmate Stringybark, Stringybark or Tasmanian Oak. It is actually a hardwood tree that is indigenous to south-eastern Australia. This is one tree species that grows really tall in favourable conditions with a trunk diameter of about 3 meters. It contains a lignotuber, which allows the tree to survive bushfires and recovers in a mallee form. It has glossy leaves that can be from 6 to 22 centimeters in length and 1 ½ to 7 centimeters in width. It produces white flowers and barrel-shaped fruits. Incidentally, the tallest tree ever known measures to 86 meters and can be found in Tasmania. However, history has recorded it towering to about 98.8 meters tall.

 

E. obliqua is the first Eucalyptus that was discovered and consequently published. As early as 1777, a specimen has been collected from the Bruny Island in Tasmania. It was later brought to London for research and it soon earned the new genus of Eucalyptus which is the Greek “eu” meaning good or well and  “calyptos” meaning covered based on the cap worn by its flower bud. Obliqua was derived from the Latin “obliquus” or oblique because its leaf bases are of unequal length.

 

E. obliqua covers an extensive area in south eastern Australia, from the Kangaroo Island through the southeast portion of South Australia as well as throughout Victoria and Tasmania particularly in the eastern tablelands in New South Wales. There are occasional clutches into southern Queensland. The tree thrives in humid or subhumid climate where winter frosts are common but severe drought very unlikely. It can grow in diverse soil conditions especially in hills and mountains. In mountainous areas where the climate is cool, it is part of the tall open-forests with other Eucalypts like the Brown Barrel, Shining Gun, Mountain Grey Gum, Manna Gum and Alpine Ash.

 

E. obliqua is an important Australian hardwood that is often sold with Mountain Ash. It is a little denser than the later as well as harder. Its sapwood is pale brown and the heartwood wearing a light brown shade. It has a fine even texture with straight grains, which could at times interlock as well as having well-defined rings with the typical gum veins. Its timber is graded as having averaged hardness and strength but it has low durability since it could break easily. However, it can be easily managed, glued and stained. Steam bending is the most suitable treatment. The wood is mainly utilized to produce pulp as well as in construction and manufacturing particularly house building, joinery, flooring and furniture.