JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOOD COLLECTORS SOCIETYJOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOOD COLLECTORS SOCIETYA Dedicated Group of Wood Collectors and CraftersA Dedicated Group of Wood Collectors and Crafters

Volume 73, Number 3 May/June 2020 Volume 73, Number 3 May/June 2020

World of WoodWorld of Wood

2020 — The Year of Wood Education2020 — The Year of Wood Education

Contents President’s Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Seeking a Secretary Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Wildlife & Forest Conservation in Thailand . . . . 5Showing off a Wood Collection . . . . . . . . 6World’s Oldest Fossil Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Handheld Circular Saw to Table Saw Conversion . . . 7The History of D2434 Eucalyptus debeuzevillei . . . 112022 Australian Conference and AGM . . . . . . . . 13Shrubwoods of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . 14A Trip to Argentina: Part I - Patagonia . . . . . . . . . . 16Official National Trees of the World . . . . . . . . .24Regis-Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Member Listings and Requests . . . . . . . . . 27Australian State Tree Emblems: Salmon Gum . . . . . 282020 Annual General Meeting, Registration . . . . 30Memorial — Judy Owings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Wood Meets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Darwin’s Barberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Editor Mihaly Czako PhD 305 Century Dr. Columbia, SC 29212-3612, USA Phone: +1-803-237-5713 E-mail: wow.editor@woodcollectors.org

Associate Editors Alan Curtis — Oregon, USA Ed Herst — Colorado, USA Morris Lake — Queensland, Australia David Mouat PhD — California, USA Nelis Mourik — South Holland, Netherlands Mark Peet — Pennsylvania, USA Chuck Ray PhD — Pennsylvania, USA

Webmaster: webmaster@woodcollectors.org

Worldwide web : http://www.woodcollectors.org

World of Wood is published bimonthly by the International Wood Collectors Society (IWCS). IWCS is devoted to distributing information on collecting wood, correctly identifying and naming wood specimens, and using wood in creative crafts. Contributions for publication may be educational, scientific, technical or of general interest to members and relevant to the purposes of the Society. Papers may be refereed by an Editorial Board of technically trained members. Authors pledge that their articles contain only materials they are copyright holders of, and short quotes for which original authors are credited. The phrases ‘World of Wood’, ‘IWCS Wood Data Sheet’ and all materials contained herein are © Copyright protected by the International Wood Collectors Society. Address requests to reprint material to the Editor.World of Wood is published as a benefit to members of the IWCS, a non-profit organization of botanists, dendrologists, and other scientists, technologists, wood collectors, hobbyists and crafts people for mutual assistance and reciprocation. Online version is in color.Applications are available from the Secretary-Treasurer or from the IWCS website. Dues and address changes also should be directed to the Secretary-Treasurer. We encourage your membership in our unique international organization.All Countries “On-Line Only”: (Couples) US $35/yr.; 3 yrs/$90; 5 yrs/$125USA Hardcopy Journal: (Couples) US $40/yr.; 3 yrs/$105; 5 yrs/$150Australia Hardcopy Journal: (Couples) US $45/yr.; 3 yrs/$120; 5 yrs/$175Other countries Hardcopy Journal: (Couples) US $55/yr.; 3 yrs/$150; 5 yrs/$225Corporate “On-Line Only”: US $125/yr; 3 yrs/$325; or 5 yrs/$450; all countriesCorporate Hardcopy Journal: US $150/yr; 3 yrs/$375; or 5 yrs/$525; all countriesStudent Member: US $15 per year; online only, all countries.

2 World of Wood May/June 2020

World of WoodVol. 73, No. 3 ISSN 1068-7300 May/June 2020

The International Wood Collectors Society, founded in 1947, is a non-profit society advancing information on wood.

Officers and TrusteesPresident Gary Green, Indiana, USA Phone: E-mail: president@woodcollectors.orgVice (2nd Past) President: Garry Roux, Illinois, USA Phone: E-mail: vp@woodcollectors.orgPresident Elect: Dennis Wilson, Alpena, Michigan, USA Phone: E-mail: president.elect@woodcollectors.org Secretary-Treasurer: Interim: Patti Dickherber, 12 August Alp Ct. Phone: E-mail: iwcs@woodcollectors.comPublications Chairman: Willem Hurkmans — Crete, Greece Phone: E-mail: pubchair@woodcollectors.orgFirst Past President: Elaine Hunt, Florida, USA Phone: E-mail: manleyelaine@aol.comEndowment Fund Chairman: Duane Keck, South Carolina, USA Phone: E-mail: drkwood2@gmail.comArchivist: Dennis Wilson, Alpena, Michigan, USA Phone: E-mail: archivist@woodcollectors.org Regional Trustees AustralAsia (2019-2022) Ian Hefferman, Victoria, Australia Canada: Réjean Drouin (2020-2022) EuroAfrica (2018-2021): Willem Hurkmans, Crete, Greece UK (Interim): Ramsey Pattison, Essex, United Kingdom USA Central (2018-2021): Violet Oman, Missouri, USA USA Great Lakes (2018-2020): Roger Pletcher, Indiana, USA USA NE (2016-2021): Mark Peet, Pennsylvania, USA USA NW (Interim): Alan Curtis, Oregon, USA USA SE (2019-2022): Don Smith, Florida, USA USA SW (Interim): Dave Mouat, California, USA Committee Chairs and Service Providers All-Mail Auction: Chair is Chuck Ray, Pennsylvania, USA Membership Committee: Bob Chastain, Indiana,USA. New-member Correspondent: Garry Roux, Illinois, USA Nominations Committee: Garry Roux, Illinois, USA Corporate Membership: OPEN Student Membership: OPEN Membership Directory: John Lyons, Victoria, Australia Website Committee: Art Lee, Maryland, USA Webmaster: Curtis Smeltzer, Indiana, USA Wood Import Permits: Alan Curtis, Oregon, USA Wood Specimen Kits: Gary Green, Indiana, USA

Cover: Showing of a Wood Collection. Story is on page 6.Background: Sakae burl (Combretum quadrangulare Kurz), native to Thailand, from the collection of Mihaly Czako.

If your WoW is damaged, contact Garry Roux for a replacement.

Thank you to Rick Long for pointing out an error on page 20 in my article about the 2020 Lake Yale meeting.Nevada Rye was misidentified as making both the pecan brittle and almond bark. Nevada did make the pecan brittle; how-ever, Pam Munger has been making and donating the almond bark for the craft auctions at several meetings, which has brought in significant income for the Society. Thank you, Pam!

President’s Message Gary Green #6654L

A Note to ContributorsPlease submit articles as you complete them. They could be placed into future editions so each edition will present a

balance of topics. Last minute changes before June 15 for the July/August 2020 issue. May/June 2020 World of Wood 3

I can imagine that regardless of where you live on this wonderful planet you are being bombarded with news about COVID-19, both bad and good. In Indiana, USA our governor has imposed a stay at home order with travel only to essential stores and services permitted. As a homeowner and woodworker, I adapted quite well to the order. In the last couple of months, I have processed every bit of wood destined for wood specimens — thousands of them. They are now all cut, sanded, labeled and re-shelved in alphabetical order. My for sale list increased from 17 to 27 pages. I never had to leave my shop and my letter carrier will pick up orders.

Spring has arrived and brought with it dozens of outdoor tasks. An amateur woodworker/full time landscaper contacted me stating that she was laid off and I immediately put her to work cleaning flower beds, trimming hedges and bushes, mowing the lawn and mulching. I’m in the process of removing dirty gravel from my driveways and applying new limestone. Soon I’ll have a lawn to be proud of. I go to bed happy but tired — certainly not lonely and depressed.

Then we have the September AGM in Alpena, Michigan, USA to look forward to. The board and I are already working on proposals for the business meeting. Northern Michigan will be beautiful with fall colors on display. Christine and I plan on going on the self-guided lighthouse tour and make the ferry trip to Mackinac Island — no cars on this Island. If you haven’t already done so, send in your registration. Dennis and Tamara Wilson have been hard at work with preparations. Be assured that if it becomes necessary to cancel the meet, you will be fully refunded.

The business of the IWCS continues as usual. Final preparations for the new Directory are underway and the 2020-21 budget has just been approved. Dennis Wilson will take the helm as President at the September AGM. Rick Long #9978 from Alabama will run for Vice President, unopposed unless someone else has interest. Rejean Drouin, #6683 has stepped in as our new Canadian Trustee. Thanks, Rejean! This leaves us in urgent need of two positions: President Elect and All Mail Auction Coordinator. It is also past time to come up with a venue and hosts for the 2021 AGM. Please contact me or your trustee if you have interest; we will be happy to provide you with details.

2020 Lake Yale, Florida Woodfest (WoW March/April 2020) — Correction by Art Lee #7984L

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I am a carnivore biologist/conservationist who spent about 15 years conducting research in Thailand in the 1990s-2000s. Thailand has some unique challenges to wildlife and forest conservation, and I highlight a few examples in this article.My carnivore research focused on the wild cat community, which had received very little attention prior to the 1990s. I used live-trapping, radio-tracking, diet analysis, and camera-trapping to study several felid species, including tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, golden cat, marbled cat and leopard cat. From this research, I was able to ascertain forest use and home range sizes for these species, as well as prey preferences.In general, radio-tracked cats used dry and hill evergreen forests the most, as these forest types dominated (75%) my study site in north-central Thailand. Mixed deciduous, dry dipterocarp, bamboo and grasslands, formed the remainder of the vegetative community. Prey preference was varied for most small to medium-sized cats with assorted species ranging from mouse-size to small deer. Larger cats such as leopard and tiger were limited to select larger species such as deer and wild boar.

Within wildlife sanctuaries logging and hunting are illegal and often are a challenge to control. Typically, forest encroachment occurs either through a gradual chipping away of the outside boundary through farming practices; through medicinal and herbal forest gathering; or through organized bands of individuals logging select trees within the heart of a forest. Farming encroachment is rarely contested by the authorities, as the acreages may be considered inconsequential.

Wildlife and Forest Conservation Challenges in Thailand Lon Grassman, PhD #10295Texas A&M University-Kingsville, USA

Hill evergreen forest typical of Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Chaiyaphum Province

Radio collared clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa)

Clouded leopards have the longest canines of all wild cats, relative to body size.

Anesthetized black leopard (Panthera pardus) in hill evergreen forest

May/June 2020 World of Wood 5

However, in aggregate, total forest loss for these encroachments may be significant. Medicinal plant collecting and herbal forest harvesting are typically conducted on a small scale, usually by villagers living next to a protected area, and their impact is almost non-existent. However, more impactful illegal logging appeared to focus on several species: Afzelia xylocarpa (“mai makha”, ต้นมะค่าโมง) and Pterocarpus macrocarpus (“mai pradoo”, ไม้ประดู่) for furniture and construction materials, and Aquilaria crassna (“mai kitsana”, ต้นกฤษณา) for expensive perfumes and incense.

Impacts to the forest from illegal logging differ tremendously. The felling of select large mai makha and mai pradoo trees, while generally bad for maintaining a mature tree community and causing a disturbance to wildlife, had a relatively low impact on the forests that I worked in. In general, several trees were felled and the logs resawn and packed out within a few days. Provided that the loggers did not cut larger swaths of trees and use more manpower, the impacts were minimal.

However, the greater problem lies with mai kitsana logging. Mai kitsana, or agarwood (Aquilaria crassna) has a high priced, aromatic, resinous heartwood that is in great demand for incense and perfume in the international market. In Thailand, the method to illegally harvest kitsana trees was to form large bands of 20+ men, and roam through a forest slowly to find and harvest select parts of the tree. Often times these excursions lasted for 3-4 weeks. Not every kitsana tree has agarwood resin, which is caused by a mold infection introduced by the feeding of an Ambrosia beetle. As a consequence, many kitsana trees are hacked and damaged beyond survival to find those with agarwood. Those kitsana trees which have the aromatic resin typically have their roots and heartwood hacked into smaller pieces for packing out of the forest.Besides damage to the trees, the main issue from a wildlife conservation perspective was the impact that these people had on wildlife prey populations. Bush meat is the primary source of food for kitsana harvesters and many deer, monkeys, birds or any other animals that could be killed were taken during their time in the forest. The impact of this depletion of prey species for the felid carnivore community can be significant, particularly for larger cats which rely on deer and larger ungulate prey. This problem is compounded because large forest ungulates exist naturally at low densities, unlike

Farmed field next to protected forest edge Herbal woody specimens collected by local villagers within the wildlife sanctuary

Resawn mai makha (Afzelia xylocarpa, suspected) boards from illegal logging

Mai kitsana (Aquilaria crassna) tree next to interpretive sign along nature trail in Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary

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A Brilliant New Way to Show off a Bit of My Wood Collection by Alan Curtis #1132HL, SU

I was pleasantly surprised by my daughter’s gift to me this past Christmas. Of course, she has been exposed to my hobby of collecting wood for many years. She has often commented that the prettiest ones are put away in boxes where no one but myself can see them. Occasionally, I show her (and others) some of the nicest ones but then back into boxes they go. So, she had a solution that really surprised me.

Kirsti (my daughter) and her husband Don, recently set up a wood shop at their home. That really surprised me as they live on a farm where, in the past, there were animals to care for. I have stored some lumber in their barn, and they selected some chestnut (Castanea sp., grown in Oregon) to use for the framework for the bench.

The top side of the bench became the “show off” place to display 13 of my prettiest wood specimens. Yes, benches are made to sit on, but I don’t dare do that on this one. A nice variety of colorful wood specimens now make up the top surface. See the cover for the photo.

From the left: Dalbergia melanoxylon, African blackwoodPlatymiscium yucatanum, Granadillo, MexicoAcer negundo with pink fungus stain, Box elder, USARhus typhina, Staghorn sumac. Maryland, USAOlea europaea, Olive, Grown: California, USAPeltogyne sp., Purpleheart, Latin AmericaAcer macrophyllum, Bigleaf maple, curly figure, Oregon, USAMetopium brownei, Chechem or Black poisonwood, MexicoDiphysa carthagenensis, Ruda, MexicoJuniperus scopulorum, Rocky Mountain juniper, Colorado, USAHibiscus elatus, Blue mahoe, JamaicaTaxus brevifolia, Pacific yew, Oregon, USADalbergia sp., Rosewood, Tropics

The bench is 43 inches (~ 109 cm) long and stands 19 inches (~ 48 cm) high. A beautiful display of some pretty woods.

grassland ungulates. Additionally, kitsana hunters would not hesitate to kill cats for meat and to sell their pelts at wildlife markets.The remedy for these conservation challenges, which occur in many parts of Southeast Asia lies primarily with the local forest rangers. I have travelled extensively throughout Asia and have experienced unmotivated, poorly trained rangers barely maintaining a presence in protected areas. However, I have also experienced, with admiration, rangers who are fully committed and enthusiastic to patrol and apprehend suspects. The common denominator for all the rangers is that they are poorly paid. The economic realities of some regions may dictate that low pay is not going away anytime soon. However, in areas where I have witnessed top-notch rangers, the key, unsurprisingly, has been the good leadership. When patrol leaders and managers take the initiative and work alongside the regular rangers, good things happen. The results of consistent patrolling and apprehensions is that word spreads and loggers/poachers are less inclined to test their luck…and the forest and wildlife ultimately win.

Editor’s NoteWorld’s Oldest Fossil Forest Uncovered in New York Cecil Robertson (#8806) alerted us to a BBC News report (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50840134) last December. The story has been published and illustrated in the National Geographic magazine also. Science Reporter Laura Foster: “Scientists believe they’ve found a forest so gigantic that it once stretched beyond Penn-sylvania from the quarry in Cairo, New York, USA — nestled in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.”Fossilized wood of the two types of trees identified here had been found before but this is the earliest fossilized forest dating back to the middle

of the Devo-nian, the 4th period of the Paleozoic Era (~400 million years bp, before the Carboniferous period). This forest allows scientists to study how trees evolved and how, as they fixed car-bon dioxide, reduced its concentration in the atmo-sphere.We do not find trees like these around anymore. A reconstruction of one of them is shown here. It was neither a fern nor a gymnosperm (conifer), but something in between.

Reconstruction of the extinct progymnosperm plant Archaeopteris macilenta based on fossils from the Catskill Mountains of New York

(Walton Formation, Hancock), By Retallack - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48044581

Handheld Circular Saw to Table Saw Conversion by Willem Hurkmans #8761LAt my previous home in the Netherlands I used to have a heavy duty Robland combination machine, including a large router, planer-jointer, and circular saw. When we moved to Greece where we’re renting a house, I saw no realistic possibility of shipping or storing it, so it was sold to my friend Henk Bakker. Over here I bought a lightweight table saw made by Einhell, a very reasonable machine at a fair price. After it gave up, I bought the same type again, the first one having performed very reasonably for its selling price, 170 Euros/ US$ 183. That one lasted me another 3 years, then it started to be unsafe to use and I scrapped it. Such machinery I found not suitable for heavy work, so over the years I started looking for a reasonably priced table saw which I did not find. The alternative was to convert a heavy duty handheld circular saw to a table saw.

Perusing the Internet, I came across several examples, some of which I thought had useful features. After doing some homework I decided that I would build my own, starting from the following parameters:

— It must fit on a table or undercarriage and, if necessary, be clamped on. Table extensions must be easy to fit and remove— It must be able to cut relatively large green wood; not really very large because my chainsaw is better for that.— It must be as safe as possible, and the handheld saw used must come from a maker that has a good reputation for heavy duty machinery. — It must be easy to transport, since I will have to store it inside the house and use it outside, for lack of a good working shed.

Possibly you guys think of Greece as a permanently warm place, but it can actually freeze where we live and our winter is typically very rainy — we get the same amount of rain that falls in London, UK, but we get all of it in the winter season.

So, condensation/moisture would be a real risk if I’d store the saw outside, even under a cover. Now, it stands in the study and doubles as a side table.

— Realizing that I have no natural

penchant for precision I frequently asked for advice from several friends, including IWCS members Nelis Mourik and Henk Bakker. Others were ready to supply good ideas when they heard about my project through Facebook. I decided to go slowly, check everything several times and re-measure all dimensions.

Although I did not make extensive drawings, I made a list of parts I would need and used several sketches, not as a definite base for layout, but every time an idea occurred to me, I made a sketch or wrote it down. That saved a lot of work and frustration, because if you give yourself ample time to think something over, you’ll gradually arrive at better solutions.

Did I find the best solutions? Not likely, but they are good enough for me. Then I went to several shops and bought what I thought I would need.To ensure enough stiffness, I decided to use the heaviest and best quality plywood I can get here, one inch thick [25.4 mm], to cut the table surface and two of the sides from. The two other sides are a trifle less heavy, of 20 mm thickness. The general idea is that you make a box from which the lower board is missing and fix the handheld saw, upside down, onto the upper board which is the working table. Because the circular saw will be fixed onto the lower face of the working table, the sawing disk protruding above through a slot in the table, you will lose some of the cutting depth. That’s why I looked for a handheld saw that not only is of reputable make but had a good cutting depth. The one I arrived at was the Makita HS0600 that can cut as deep as 4 1/4” [105 mm] which cost me 285 Euro/ USD 308. Its only drawback is that it has no riving knife — but I thought I could solve that during the conversion process.

The working surface consists of two parts [cut using the handheld saw, before its conversion] that are fixed to the narrow sides, with a slot of 1 1/4” [31 mm] over all its length. That slot is necessary to accommodate the guide that can push objects for cross sawing. I first sawed a mould the width of the gap and sanded it, then cut, sanded and screwed on the left hand part

of the working table [16 1/8” wide, about 41 cm], then with the mould in place, screwed on the right hand part [4” or a little over 10 cm wide] with just a trifle of play, so the mould [i.e. the future guide bar that slides in the slot] could easily slide, without too much aberration. I fixed the narrow, right hand part with just one screw, allowing me to align the slot exactly. I fixed it for the time being using duct tape, then finally secured it using screws. Then I also sanded that part where it abuts the slot. The guide used in pushing the workpieces for cross sawing was later screwed onto the mould. Note that the two top parts were only screwed on, not glued.

The dimensions of the working table are 31.5” x 21” [80 x 54 cm], but in case you would like to do such a project yourself, use dimensions that suit you — possibly you’d like it larger in case you will have a permanent location for storing and working. The really important aspect of the ‘box’ is that it should be absolutely rigid. That’s why, after assembling the 6-part box and counting the 2 working top parts separately, I reinforced all corners using sections of 2” by 3” [50 x 75 mm] spruce of good quality, i.e. without large knots; they were glued and screwed on to the inside corners. An extra requirement is that my assembly can easily pass through the doors we have here.

Now we come to one reason for not gluing the working top on — I wanted to cut a slight recess on the lower side of the tabletop, where the sole of the handheld circular saw would fit in. In this sole, made of high-quality aluminium, I drilled 11 holes for accommodating bolts and nuts to fix the circular saw under the

Figure 1. The Makita handheld circular saw I used, as I got it from the store

May/June 2020 World of Wood 7

larger working top part. I realized that, if ever parts of the machine get damaged, it will be the most exposed parts, i.e. the two working top parts. By ‘only screwing’ these parts on, I will have the possibility of replacing them if ever they get worn out, or when something happens that knocks a tabletop part out of alignment.So now I unscrewed the wide, left hand, top part and flipped it over. I then set the handheld saw at zero depth, outlined its sole on the lower face, and using guides made of wooden beams and a top router, cut a recess the size of the sole, only 3/16” [about 5 millimetres] deep; it had to be just sufficient to prevent the sole from moving, and to be shallow enough in order not to weaken the table top significantly. After I cut the recess, I drilled the holes for the bolts and screwed the handheld saw onto the lower face of the tabletop [still at zero depth setting]. Then I hooked up the machine and, securing it firmly with vice clamps, let it cut its own slot in the tabletop. After having done that, I found I had a cutting depth [really a height] of 3 1/4” [82 mm] maximum. Since I never plan to cut at an angle, I also fixed permanently the angle setting at ‘perpendicular’.

Using tie wraps, I then locked the saw in ‘ON’ position. I had realized before that I would need a switch placed on the outside of the box for easy access, to switch the saw on and off; so it was a matter of fixing a ‘switchable’ extension cord onto the machine I was building, and using that as my ON/OFF switch. That was also easily achieved by drilling a few holes and using tie wraps. Then I securely fixed the original cable to one of the sides, to prevent it getting in the way of the saw when the depth setting is changed.

As I found out, the depth setting could be hard to reach, but I had already thought of that. Cutting ‘windows’ in the sides proved to solve that very well. These windows are some 20” x 6” [50 x 12.5 cm] which leaves

over 3” [7.5 cm] of plywood, above and below. These windows also enable clamping the top part to the undercarriage.

After re-screwing the tabletop-plus-saw onto the box, I now had a table saw that could be used to make cross cuts only. To enable it cutting lengthwise I had thought of the following solution. At the ‘operating’ side of the saw table, I screwed on a strip of my heaviest plywood at about 1” below the tabletop surface. Onto that strip I screwed another, wider strip that comes flush with the tabletop surface, using long screws that also sit in the side proper. I now had a groove perpendicular to the plane of the saw, that enabled me to insert another guide bar, onto which I initially screwed the lengthwise guide. This worked very well.

Both these guides were made of square plywood tubes that gives you quite a sturdy guide. After some use, I found that this works well enough when cross cutting, but not when lengthwise cutting (ripping) — at a certain point the guide began to wobble a bit. I thought of two solutions that could be satisfactory: (a) using a much heavier, wider square tube type guard, and (b) cutting triangles from plywood. In both cases, this gives you more length along the sliding guide bar to fix the guide on to, making the guide more

Figure 2. View from below, of the hand-held saw now fixed to the bottom of the

working top, showing the tie wraps locking the switch in ‘ON’ position

Figure 3. Extension cable with switch that acts as my ON/OFF switch. This cable plugs into a second extension cable, so I

have to set 2 switches at ‘ON’ to make the machine run. Good for safety, I thought.

Figure 4. How the original machine cable is fixed. Note the small recess in one side to

let the power cable through.

Figure 5. reinforcement strip and recess to enable the inflow of air — you don’t want the machine to overheat inside a box! The air can flow out through the slot between

the working top parts.

Figure 6. Slot cut into the working top

Figure 7. Showing the working top with its two grooves for the guides. Note that the

riving knife is not yet in place.

8 World of Wood May/June 2020

May/June 2020 World of Wood 9

rigid. Since the latter option seemed to me stiffer and possibly lighter weight, I cut two identical triangles, screwed them together, and then screwed them on to the guide bar. That, so far, has worked out quite well. Moreover, this system enables me, in combination with the windows I cut in the sides, to use a clamp vice to fix the guide in a given position in case I have to cut many work pieces to the same width.

Another feature I had thought about from an early stage, was easy transport. The complete top part weighs in at about 28 kilos (~62 lbs) and if I have to haul it from my study to the working station outside that would prevent me from using it as much as I really wanted to. Not just because it’s heavy — you need to pass some narrow spots and go through 2 doors. After having rejected the idea of suitcase type handles, I thought I’d mount caster wheels on what, in use, is the ‘back’ side of the sawing table. On the outside I first screwed on some extra reinforcement strips which enabled me to use longer screws for fixing the casters. These casters are really cheap and are provided with a brake that I apply when the table saw is stored in the study [and when the machine is in use, explained in caption below]. When stored the top is 36” [97 cm] above the floor; suitable to double as a side table.

Now I had to give thought to safety measures, i.e. the riving knife, and fixing the table saw rigidly onto a table, or undercarriage. The riving knife was an interesting adventure. I knew that it would be a vital safety measure to have one; but how would I fix it rigidly enough without weakening the structure? I soon came up with the design that in altered shape I still use: a ‘square iron’ used for fixing floor beams together that I fixed into a slight recess I cut into the top

of the working table, aligned with the plane of the saw. However, at the start this caused some problems. Not on account of being as high as the teeth rise above the table — but because the riving knife was too long. The solution proved easy enough: grinding a part of this structure off, then removing the burrs and sanding really well.

I soon discovered that building an undercarriage for the purpose would allow more flexibility of design [compared to using an existing table]. I was well advised to make the undercarriage as heavy as possible, to prevent the entire structure from being top heavy. So I bolted together an undercarriage consisting of a frame made of 3.5” to 4”x4” [8 to 10 x 10 cm] beams, with 3”x3” [7.5 x 7.5 cm] legs, some doubling beams for extra strength and rigidity and a lot of cross and diagonal ties that also promote rigidity; its weight is about 75 lbs [30 kilos]. It’s easy to add more weight on its lower part, using large square ‘cheese boxes’ filled with iron scraps or rocks from the garden. It really gives me a very solid base and because its major parts are fixed using sizeable carriage bolts, it’s really rigid. The saw table part is put on the top where it is contained by strips fixed onto the outside of the undercarriage top; it can also be clamped onto the undercarriage, using the ‘windows’ cut in the sides. The undercarriage is, and

Figure 8. Showing the original guide bar for ripping

Figure 9. The original riving knife that proved to be too long.

Figure 10. The modified riving knife that works well.

Figure 11. Undercarriage, showing the ‘containment edges’ where the saw part

can just be fit in.

Figure 12. Showing the carriage bolts used for construction. The nuts on these bolts can, if needed, be tightened up over time, since this type of bolt is designed for that.

Figure 13. Detail of undercarriage — wooden leg extension that was tapped into

a certain depth, then marked, removed and glued in to make all legs exactly the same length. In case the frame warps

over time, this pin is easily drilled out and replaced.

will be, outside all the time, under a plastic cover. However, I expect that over time it could warp a little due to movement of the wood in service; I have a very slightly tapering wedge that I now use to remove the last trifle of play.

The only thing I have so far not really solved to my satisfaction, is that I have to lift the top part onto the undercarriage. But in fact, that’s a minor inconvenience — much better than leaving the sawing table outside, exposed to moisture and condensation.

Figure 14. Top part in its working position. The casters mean the machine is easy to move around, given a solid surface. To enable easier movement the casters can

be locked, pointing inwards, so they don’t hamper the top part sitting well on the

undercarriage.

Figure 15. The modified guide for ripping. On Nelis’ advice, a higher edge has been screwed on, making the guide 3” [7.5 cm]

high.

Figure 16. Showing tube structure of cross cutting guide.

Figure 17. Cross cutting bar in place, with line indicating the length of a wood sample

marked on it. Also note that the guide is less than 1/16” removed from the saw

blade.

Figure 18. Containment strips on the top of the undercarriage.

Figure 19. Showing the wedge, I use for aligning top and undercarriage. Since a

clamp is also used, no wobbling is possible and loosening through vibration is

prevented.

Figure 20. Clamp in place on top & undercarriage.

Figure 21. Clamp fixing length cutting guide in position.

10 World of Wood May/June 2020

Acknowledgements — Thanks are due to Henk Bakker, Nelis Mourik, Albert Versteegde and others who commented on the project and/or asked shrewd questions that finally contributed to a result I find quite satisfactory.

The History of D2434 Eucalyptus debeuzevillei by John Lyons #9737

Amongst the many interesting specimens salvaged by Ian McLaughlin and other IWCS members a decade ago from the CSIRO Dadswell Collection is a very unassuming looking back sawn pale ash Eucalypt labelled D2434. Ian inscribed this as Euc. de-beuzevillei and it was purchased by Keith Towe in 2012. Keith subsequently labelled this with the common name Giant Snow Gum, which as we shall see later is overly optimistic. I purchased this specimen along with all of Keith’s collection a couple of years later and hadn’t given it much thought until Jim Schubert provided me with a microscope slide of his Dadswell samples including D2434 prepared in April 2019.

The species is named in honour of W. A. W. de Beuzeville who had collected the botanical type specimen in 1919 and provided it to Joseph H. Maiden at the Sydney Herbarium (National Herbarium of New South Wales). Maiden described it in the Proceedings of the Royal

Society of NSW in 1920 and so it became known officially as Eucalyptus debeuzevillei Maiden. He wrote that the type was collected from Jounama Peaks, NSW by Wilfred Alexander Watt de Beuzeville, Assistant Forester, Forestry Commission, December 1919. Interestingly, the Australian Plant Name Index1 in a bracketed entry after the botanical name says Maiden named this de-Beuzevillei but presumably Botanical nomenclature overruled the author and the hyphen, and the capital were subsequently removed.

The more widely accepted common name2 for the species has become Jounama Snow Gum. It grows on steep slopes over 1500 m (~ 5000’) in the Brindabellas and the Bogong Peaks of the ACT and NSW, above the upper limits of Alpine Ash (E. delegatensis). It is hard to imagine anyone has commercialized the harvesting and milling of this species. Chipperfield3 commented, “this is usually a small tree with a very short bole or a many-stemmed shrub”, so not really a ‘Giant’ after all.

Time has been unkind to the status of this species. It is currently classified as a subspecies of Snow Gum E. pauciflora, and SA member David Kleinig4 gives its botanical name as Eucalyptus pauciflora Sieb. ex Spreng. subsp. debeuzevillei (Maiden) L. Johnson & D. Blaxell. The Snow Gum type was collected in 1823 by the Czech botanist F W Sieber during a seven-month visit to Australia, and although named in a publication it was insufficient to satisfy botanical rules until validly published by Sprengel in 1827. This wouldn’t have mattered to the Jounama Snow Gum until Laurie Johnson revised the species complex in 1973, relegating the Jounama to a subspecies.

Jim’s slide of E. debeuzevillei (left) is comparable to E. regnans, Mountain Ash (right), with no soft tissue, thin rays, relatively open fibres and perhaps a tendency to oblique flares of pores. The notable difference is the typical pore diameter is about half that of E. regnans.

May/June 2020 World of Wood 11

De Beuzeville5 (1884 -1954) was born in the Southern Highlands and educated at Tumut before marrying in 1907 and working on the land. He joined the Forestry Commission in 1912 and worked in various locations around the state. His picture from a family collection6 was probably taken in northern NSW. He settled in Tumbarumba and Tumut during the 1920s. From 1930 to 1935 he collected extensively for the National Herbarium in Sydney and for Dadswell’s group at the CSIR (as CSIRO, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, was known then) Division of Forest Products in Melbourne. According to the CSIR logs, by the end of 1935 he had provided 1048 specimens for Dadswell’s group out of the entire collection of 3374 specimens, almost a third of the collection! Dadswell’s group began logging samples in December 1928 and had reached 1431 by the time de Beuzeville started in November of 1930. He sent 56 shipments, almost one a month averaging 20 samples per shipment for the next five years, which was well over half the samples received during this period.

In 1936 de Beuzeville shifted to Sydney and carried out a series of senior roles including establishing the forest ecology branch of the Forestry Commission before retiring in 1948. Despite this being at the very end of his career, both Hall and Chippendale single him out as a ‘Forest Ecologist’. Indeed, Chippendale says he was “a keen collector of forest botanical material and the first to recognize Jounama Snow Gum as differing from E. pauciflora subsp. pauciflora”.

When cataloguing Jim’s slide, I cross referenced it with the CSIR log books7 from 1933 to discover that it had been collected by “W A W de B” from the NSW Southern Highlands. Of course, “W A W de B” is Wilfred Alexander Watt de Beuzeville. The wood we now have was collected and despatched to Dadswell’s group by de Beuzeville himself, a decade after he had collected and introduced the species to the botanical world. Now that makes it pretty special in my book.

The extract of the CSIR logs for E. de Beuzevillei samples 2433 & 2434 show handwritten notes “BH, BS, Limb, TC, bark, mus”. I think the BS refers to “botanical specimens” and “mus” refers to “Museum” meaning samples of leaves, flowers and fruit were provided to the Sydney Herbarium to confirm the species identity. Throughout the logs, de Beuzeville’s specimens were routinely described with these abbreviations and often the pages were over-written with comments attributed to the Government Botanist, usually confirming de Beuzeville’s identification. That makes them pretty much the same as vouchering the samples and makes them prized items for us as wood collectors.

1 Australian Plant Name Index D-J, Commonwealth of Australia 1991, Page 1225 2 Hall & Brooker, Forest Tree Leaflet 125, Forestry & Timber Bureau, 1973 3 Chippendale in Kelly, Eucalypts Volume II, Thomas Nelson Aust, 1978, Page 48 4 Brooker & Kleinig, Field Guide to Eucalypts Vol 1, Inkata, 1983, Page 92 5 Carron, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 8, MUP, 1981 6 Family photo collection, kept by great-nephew Tony Reynolds, circa 1920 7 Wood Collection Log Books, CANBD, Australian National Herbarium, 201212 World of Wood May/June 2020

May/June 2020 World of Wood 13 May/June 2020 World of Wood 13

Preliminary Notice of the 2022 Conference and AGM

Geoff Holloway (Qld Rep) #9971

IWCS AGM at Mt. Tamborine has moved from September 2021 to September 2022. Here are some images I took at Tamborine Mountain National Park on Cedar Creek when checking out

the suitability of the venue. Accommodation will be available in the Cedar Creek Lodges.

Cedar Creek

Curtis Falls

Cedar Creek pool

Cedar Creek

Red Cedar

Flooded Gum—Mt. Tamborine

QUEENSLAND

14 World of Wood May/June 2020

Shrubwoods of the WorldMusk maple by Nelis Mourik #7460LA quite rare species in European and northern American nurseries. The species is exceptional due to its variable leaf shape, not because of its wood.

Longitudinal flat-sawn surfaces in a glued-up Premna microphylla wood specimen. The wood is from the Kyoto Botanical Garden,

Japan.

Transverse surface of an average 52 mm (2 in.) disc of Premna microphylla

The botanical name of musk maple is Premna microphylla Maximowicz. Premna is a genus of about 200 species, consisting of trees, shrubs, subshrubs and some climbers, native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Some of the trees provide commercial wood, be it rather on a local scale only. Most species are found in Asia. In China alone 46 species are native. Premna microphylla is native to south-central to south-eastern China, Taiwan and southern Japan. For this species, other English common names are Japanese musk maple and Japanese neem tree. Stinky maple is also a common name used. The transliterated Japanese name is hamakusagi. The transliterated Chinese name is dou fu chai, dou fu pointing to ‘tofu’, which is a vegetarian cheese or jelly, in this case a jelly prepared from the leaves. The names musk maple and stinky maple are given because of the very unpleasant smell of the crushed leaves. Synonyms sometimes used in literature are P. japonica Miq. and P. formosana Maxim. Musk maple has nothing to do with the maple genus or family. The genus Premna is in the Lamiaceae family (mint family), formerly Verbenaceae or Labiatae.

The genus name Premna is after the Greek ‘premnon’ = ‘tree stump’. It alludes to the short, crooked trunk of the first described species (P. integrifolia L.). The specific epithet microphylla means ‘small-leaved’.

Musk maple is an erect shrub or small tree up to 3 m (10 ft.) tall and just as wide in the crown. It is extremely variable in leaf traits. Leaves are opposite, from lanceolate to ovate and obovate, the leaf margin entire to lobed or sometimes serrulate, 3 – 13 cm (1⅛ – 5 in.) long and half that wide. Individual flowers are small, in conical panicles, yellow, blooming in late spring to early summer. Leaves as well as flowers can be pubescent or nearly glabrous. Fruits are dark purple berry-like drupes, maturing in late summer to early fall.

Musk maple wood is light brown with slightly darker streaks because of denser latewood zones. Heartwood is not discernible. Stems will hardly exceed 10 cm (4 in.) in diameter, although 18 x 15 cm (7 x 6 in.) oval sstem has been reported in Japan. Growth ring boundaries are distinct due to the denser ground tissue in the very late latewood. The wood is semi-ring-porous with a discontinuous ring of earlywood vessels of which the tangential diameter is 50 – 80 µm. Vessel diameters decrease to 10 µm near the end of the growth ring. Latewood vessels are solitary and in radial multiples of 2 – 4. Perforation plates are simple. Axial parenchyma is scanty paratracheal and in a marginal band. Rays are 1 – 3 (– 4) seriate. Rays are up to 600 – 700 µm high. Body ray cells are procumbent, with 1 row of square to upright marginal cells. Some low, uniseriate rays consist of square to upright cells only. Ground tissue consists of thin- to thick-walled fibers with simple to minutely bordered pits.

The wood of musk maple is strong, quite hard and heavy (specific gravity 680 - 740 kg/m³ or 42.5 - 46 lbs/ft³ airdry). Grain is straight, texture is fine. Small diameter stems dry well without cutting along the pith, only with some short end cracks. End-sealing is recommended. It works well with all kinds of tools, provided they are sharp. It can be glued well and can be sanded to a very smooth surface. It is of a medium durability.The wood of this shrub is not used

for anything other than firewood. The species is widely used for bonsai. From the leaves, a so-called green tofu (a green jelly) is prepared. It is because Premna leaves (generally, throughout the genus) contain much pectin. Preparations from roots, stems and leaves are used as traditional Chinese medicine. Musk maple is a subtropical species, it is not hardy in the temperate regions of the world.

Lens view of Premna microphylla endgrain

May/June 2020 World of Wood 15

Shrubwoods of the WorldUral false spirea by Nelis Mourik #7460L and Michael Nee #9863A shrub with short-living shoots and a beautiful inflorescence. The white wood is of no value except for kindling.

Flat sawn and quarter sawn surfaces in a glued-up Sorbaria sorbifolia wood specimen from North American grown wood. Wood courtesy of the Missouri

Botanical Garden collections, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Collected by Michael Nee

64292 in Wisconsin.

Transverse section of a 25 x 33 mm (1 x 1¼ in.) wide stem near the base of Sorbaria

sorbifolia. The large colony in southern Wisconsin had no tall stems more than 3 years old, but this larger diameter base of a clump was 7 years old. In one ring there is a (possibly false) partial growth ring boundary over one quarter of its

circumference. This larger diameter base represents the quarter sawn surface in the specimen picture above. Probably, in more temperate climates, the stems attain greater

age and diameter.

The botanical name of Ural false spirea is Sorbaria sorbifolia (L.) A. Braun. Sorbaria is a genus consisting of five species of deciduous shrubs, all natives to eastern Asia, and closely related to the genus Spiraea. Hence false spirea is the general English common name for the Sorbaria species. Sorbaria sorbifolia is native to temperate eastern Asia from the Ural Mountains eastward, including south eastern Siberia, the Far East of Russia, Manchuria, northern China, Korea and northern Japan. It is cultivated and sometimes naturalized in Europe and north-eastern North America.

In older literature it might be found under its synonym Spiraea sorbifolia L. Other English common names sometimes used are false spirea or just sorbaria. Transliterated Chinese name is zhen zhu mei, literally meaning ‘pearl plum’. Transliterated Japanese common name is hozaki-nanakamado.Sorbaria is in the Rosaceae family, subfamily Amygdaloideae, formerly subfamily Spiraeoideae. The genus name Sorbaria means ‘Sorbus-like’. The specific epithet sorbifolia means ‘with leaves like Sorbus’.Ural false spirea is an erect, 1 – 2 m (3.5 – 7 ft.) high shrub, spreading freely by root

suckers. Leaves are compound, 10 – 40 cm (4 – 16 in.) long, composed of 13 – 25 lanceolate leaflets, sharply serrated along their margins. The showy inflorescence is an erect, terminal, pyramidal, dense panicle of tiny flowers opening in July/August, 15 – 30 cm (6 – 12 in.) long, individually 7 – 8 mm (¼ – 5/16 in.) in diameter. Flowers are white with a yellow-orange center. Seeds ripen in September in a dehiscent capsule.Ural false spirea wood is off-white. Heartwood is present, but not discernible in the seasoned wood (not uncommon in other Rosaceae genera). Stem diameter near the base is up to about 25 mm (1 in.), of individual shoots up to about 16 mm (⅝ in.). The stems have a relatively wide, soft, light brown pith (3 – 5 mm or ⅛ – 3/16 in.). Growth ring boundaries are distinct due to a denser ground tissue zone near the end of the growth ring and a (less distinct) discontinuous ring of slightly larger earlywood vessels. In this American grown wood, vessel diameters are very small, up to 20 µm in the earlywood vessel ring, down to 10 µm in the latewood. In Russian Far East wood, it has been recorded to be 50 µm, down to 20 µm (Anatomy of Russian Woods, Vera E. Benkova and Fritz H. Schweingruber, ISBN 9783258064123). Perforation plates are simple. Here and there vessel grouping tends to be a tangential arrangement. Axial parenchyma is scanty paratracheal, in the earlywood only. Rays are of two distinct sizes. Uniseriate rays are generally low and composed of square to upright cells only. Multiseriate rays are (2 –) 3 – 6 cells wide, with bodies of procumbent cells and tails of 1 – 2 rows of square to upright marginal cells. Ray height is up to little over 1 mm. Ground tissue consists of medium thick-walled fibers with distinctly bordered pits.The wood of Ural false spirea is medium hard and of a medium density (specific gravity around 580 kg/m³ or 36 lbs/ft³ airdry). Grain is generally straight. Texture is fine to extremely fine. It dries well without cutting the wood along the pith, while not showing any distortion. The wood rounds are too small to machine. Band sanding to shape is the safest way to work on it. It works easily, glues well and can be sanded to a

very smooth surface. Durability is low. It is susceptible to both wood borers and fungi.

The wood of Ural false spirea is too small to be used. Dried shoots can be used for kindling. The shrub is planted for erosion control. It can also be used as a privacy hedge and as a background shrub in large gardens.

Lens view of Sorbaria sorbifolia wood endgrain

16 World of Wood May/June 2020

Argentina — Part I: Patagonia by Réjean Drouin, photos by Claude Thiffault

Argentina was not among my planned next trips. Ecuador and Peru were my preferred choices. My old friends from Montréal, Claude and Jeannine, suggested a joint Argentina trip to cover it from south to north, insisting on a visit to Patagonia. Claude likes fresh weather. He worked a lot in the north of Quebec during the James Bay dam projects, mostly in winter conditions. He considered himself a northern man, attracted by the coldest Southern Argentina. I was not ‘hot’ to this suggestion; I preferred doing Argentina in two trips, this time focusing on the warmer north.

Argentina is a large country, roughly 5,200 km (~3230 miles) north to south from Bolivia to Tierra del Fuego and 1,400 km (~870 miles) west to east. Its size is nearly 30% of that of Canada or four times the size of Texas. Have you ever imagined covering Canada in 24 days? It would require two days for each province and territory. To cover Argentina from south to north would entail several coach rides or plane flights.

Second, Argentina’s tree flora is not diverse. Patagonia is poor in tree species, apart from Nothofagus species and some other smaller trees. As for the northwest, besides ‘Cardones’ (giant cacti), I was expecting few tree species. My trips are always connected to tree flora. However, there are more interesting destinations to me.

My wife insisted plane flights (low cost) will save time. As a compromise, I asked for more time in the northwest to visit the Iguazu Falls. Sylvie and my friends started planning the trip which included six domestic plane flights. Let’s go!

Patagonia covers 28% of Argentina. It extends from San Carlos de Bariloche in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south. It covers 780.000 km2 or ~300,000 mi2; it’s the same distance as Schefferville is north of Québec) (Figure 1: Map 1).

The Chilean border has mostly mountainous countryside but also flat steppes. The Andes terminate in Tierra del Fuego with summits reaching 1500 meters (~5000 feet) rising above sea level. It is like a summit of 3000 meters (~10,000 feet above sea level) starting at 1500 meters. Summer is the best time to visit there as the sun goes down around 10:30 PM and temperatures go up to 20 degrees Celsius (68 F).

We took the plane from Buenos Aires the day after arriving; a flight of four hours to Ushuaia (Map 1). Ushuaia is in Tierra del Fuego Province, an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Straits of Magellan. Tierra del Fuego is divided

Argentina and Chile. Being a 4-day trip, the temperature there fluctuates very much (like the peso’s exchange rate...). The best day to see penguins and the Beagle Channel (Map 1) was the first clear day which happened to be the first day after we arrived. We took a five-hour boat tour on the Beagle Channel (visited by Darwin for two hydrographic expeditions between 1826-1836) to see local fauna.

Across the channel, Coastal Chile offers an opportunity to view the southern Nothofagus forest (Fig. 2). This boat tour took almost the full day including one stop at the island of penguins. We enjoyed the trip in general and we also enjoyed seeing the local fauna (Figs. 3-5).

The second day was overcast and rainy, and Claude and I decided to make a trek in the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. We took a bus to the park entrance, paid the fees, and started along the suggested trail: an 8-km (~ 5 miles) hiking trail along the seashore of the Beagle Channel. The informative pamphlet said the park has two species of southern beech, by the local name ‘Lenga’ and the evergreen ‘Guindo’ or ‘Coihue de Magallanes’, without giving the scientific names. So, we thought there were only two species of southern beech in the park. After a few hundred meters we met a guide leading a couple of tourists and I asked him how many species were growing here. He said there are three species, but the trail only passes two of them. A third species (rare here) grows at higher elevations. We left the group and made observations of their traits to differentiate them. This time of the year (summer with 15 Celsius or ~ 59 F), we found only leaves on the trees; no flowers or fruits were available. We saw two kinds of leaves: one little, round, and serrated on the margin and another, larger and deeper green.

Number 1 problem: the Nothofagus species

We faced 2 problems on this trip. First was the Nothofagus and 2nd was the ‘Cardones’ (the giant cacti), explained in a later issue. Species of Nothofagus (the southern beeches) are widespread on the southern hemisphere, in Australia, including Tasmania, New Zealand, New Guinea and New Caledonia, and in South America (Chile and Argentina). Chile has 9 species, 7 of which are found in Argentina and Patagonia. One source lists 11 species for South America. Nothofagus bears likenesses to the genus Fagus of the northern hemisphere. However, placement and circumscription of Nothofagus is controversial (see the November/December 2016 issue of WoW). What do you expect? Botany is what botanists make of it. The genus Nothofagus was first placed in the Fagaceae family. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG), (http://www.mobot.

May/June 2020 World of Wood 17

Figure 1. Map of Patagonia (license-free map from dreamstime.com and with an insert from Google Maps 2020)

Fig. 3. Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus)

Fig. 4. Rock cormorants (Phalacrocorax magellanicus)

Fig. 2. Nothofagus forest by the Beagle Channel

Fig. 5. Patagonia sea lions (Otaria flavescens)

org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/welcome.html) places it in the new family Nothofagaceae, closely related to the Fagaceae and the Betulaceae. According to Aimée Camus, in a 1951 contribution (reference below), Nothofagus would be more ancient and more evolved than Fagus.

Differentiating the species of Nothofagus is like a scramble or ‘cafouillis’ (the scene we sometimes see in front of a hockey goal). First, Lenga is Nothofagus pumilio and

Fig. 6. Fantastic scenes in the beech forest

18 World of Wood May/June 2020

Fig. 8. Giant woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus)

Guindo is N. betuloides. Someone told us the latter is rare in the park and the second noted species should be Ñirre (Nothofagus antarctica). To complicate matters, one Wikipedia site says the Park has not two, but four

Fig. 9. Notro or Chilean firebush (Embothrium coccineum, Proteaceae), a beautiful tree in bloom.

Fig. 10. Red crowberry or diddle-dee (Empetrum rubrum, Ericaceae)

Fig. 12. Pan de indio (Cyttaria hariotii) is an edible ascomycete fungus parasitic on southern beech (Nothofagus) trees

Fig. 11. The hemiparasitic farolito chino (Misodendrum punctulatum), that grows as a mistletoe principally on Nothofagus

trees. Sprays of yellow green to red, leafless, branching, knotty twigs grow out of the wood of the host.

Fig. 7. Beaver dams in the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego

May/June 2020 World of Wood 19

Nothofagus species: Coihue or Coïgu (N. dombeyi), Lenga, Ñirre or Ñire (N. antarctica) and the Magellan’s Coihue or Guindo. Nothing makes tree identification easy! The sinuous path, the fog, the twisted trees covered with mosses, and parasitic plants made us feel like we were on the screen in a Peter Jackson movie (Fig. 6).

The afternoon was dedicated to a loop trail along the sea-bays and some interior marshes where we found beaver dams (Fig. 7).

Fig. 13. Beech orange, Cyttaria hariotii fungus fruiting body. By Butterfly austral - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.

wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6247364

Fig. 14. Darwin’s golf ball fungus, or “beech orange” (Cyttaria darwinii) is a parasitic on southern beech (Nothofagus) trees.

The fungus releases chemical signals that cause the tree to form a gnarled gall that sustains the fungus, from which it sprouts perennially in spring or summer. After shooting its spores, the

beech oranges drop from the tree, while the gall remains.

Fig. 15. Carving made of lenga burl, Nothofagus pumilio

Fig. 16. Examples of lenga burls Nothofagus pumilio

Fig. 16. Réjean on a trail near Laguna Esmeralda pointing at sections of a mature lenga trunk

Fig. 17, Beaver pond, Laguna Esmeralda

20 World of Wood May/June 2020

Fig. 19. Austral or emerald parakeet (Enicognathus ferrugineus)

Fig. 18. The chimango caracara bird (Milvago chimango) Fig. 20. A huge southern beech (Nothofagus) by the trail from Chaltén to Laguna Torre

Map 2. Insets, from S to N: Laguna Esmeralda NE of Ushuaia, El Perito glacier W of El Calafate, Cerro Fitz Roy N of El Chaltén

May/June 2020 World of Wood 21

In 2016, Chile and Argentina started an eradication program of beaver with the objective of 100,000 catches. For economic reasons, the beaver was introduced from Canada, together with the American Mink. Unknown at the time, the mink is a predator of local parrot and probably muskrats. The Fuegian ecosystem is not prepared for such invaders. Continuing our trek, we came to the best moment of the day. We observed of a family of the Carpintero gigante bird, the giant woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus) (Fig. 8). Late in the afternoon, we returned to Ushuaia by bus.

My friend, Claude, is a biologist and a good photographer. He took photos of the trail, the Nothofagus trees, and the park’s flora and fauna. We compared the photos with internet sites using the Wi-Fi at the lodging. We managed to identify Notro (Embothrium coccineum). This was easy because it has unique flowers (Fig. 9).

The identity of Nothofagus is not certain. However, the reader can appreciate photos of some identified species. We provide snapshots of other wildlife, including small trees and bushes. One species is Maytenus magellanica (Leña dura). There were 2 Berberis species: one is B. buxifolia, locally called calafate (symbol of Patagonia). Its synonym is Berberis microphylla. The other is Berberis darwinii. It is known as Darwin’s barberry, calafate, red crowberry, and diddle-dee. There is also Empetrum rubrum (the prickly heath) (Fig. 10). Another is Gaultheria mucronate in the Ericaceae family. Finally, there is Drymis winteri (Winter’s bark) in the Winteraceae family.

Another intriguing species is the hemiparasitic Farolito chino or Misodendro, that grows as a mistletoe (Fig. 11), principally on Nothofagus trees. After the trip I found this and many local flowers in an online picture book here: https://issuu.com/navetierrapa/docs/herbario_bosque_patag__nico-phone/29.

The park also has two species of ascomycete macrofungus, Cyttaria hariotii (Llao-llao or native bread, Figs. 12-13) and Dihuene (Cyttaria darwinii, Fig. 14). They have a surprising appearance, sometimes surrounding the tree trunk of Nothofagus (Fig. 12). It appears everywhere in the tree, including the branches. The active fungus stands out by its orange colored fruiting bodies, which are edible (Fig. 13). Cyttaria is a parasite causing burl-like growths, which were used for carving, for example by the prisoners of Ushuaia (Fig. 14-15).

As I did not satisfactorily confirm the identifications of Nothofagus spp. in the park, I asked for a carpenter shop in the city where I could possibly find some Nothofagus wood. It was late afternoon, our last day in Ushuaia. Finally, we found, with local help, a carpenter shop. There,

I could buy real Lenga (N. pumilio), the only locally accepted lumber of any Nothofagus species as the owner told us. Lenga can grow 30 meters (~ 100’) high and reach a trunk diameter of 1.5 meter (~ 5’) (Fig. 16). In autumn, the foliage turns red-orange-yellow before it is shed (same happens to Ñirre). On the contrary, Guindo (N. betuloides) keeps its leaves all year. It grows up to 500 meters above sea level.

The next day we went to Laguna Esmeralda, northeast of Ushuaia (Map 2). Found high in the mountain range, surrounded by snow capped mountains, it is a must-see portrait of the Southern Patagonia landscape. We made a wonderful trek starting in an old Nothofagus forest, mixed with swamps with the presence of beaver (Fig. 17), in an active glacial stream. At higher elevations, the vegetation changes to subarctic flora with a lagoon protecting a Nothofagus forest surrounded by the high mountains covered with snow. The landscape was very different from that in the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego located at sea level. Using his zoom lens, my friend captured some astonishing birds, such as the chimango caracara bird (Fig. 18.) Listen to it here: https://ebird.org/species/chicar1. Also, note the Austral or emerald parakeet (Fig. 19).

The next day we moved on to the northern Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, over 560 km (~350 miles) north of Ushuaia. We spent 20 hours on a double-decker bus. We crossed the Chilean border at San Sebastián (the shortest route). We crossed the Primera Angostura sound (in the Straits of Magellan) by ferry. We returned to Argentina near Punta Delgada (Fig. 1: Map 1). We stopped in Río Gallegos, the coastal city where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made their last bank robbery. During this trip, we were surrounded by steppes. Some had livestock (cattle and/or sheep), some had gas derricks, some had bush land (principally herbs). There was no one around, no village, just some wild guanacos. We arrived at El Calafate very late (2 AM).

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz Province), is found on the big ice cap (the third largest ice cap in the world, after Antarctica and Greenland). It continues to advance. The national park is well known for two sections: the Perito Moreno and Cerro Fitz Roy, 3405 meters, (~11,171 feet) (Map 2).

El Calafate is the regional hub for plane and bus arrivals, departures, tours, and services of all kinds. The section Perito Moreno is 78 km (~ 49 mi.) from El Calafate. We followed the Lago Argentino lake with its greenish water fed by melting ice from several glaciers. On the other side are grasslands. Suddenly, we saw a mother ñandú bird (or Suri, (Rhea pennata)) with her chicks.

22 World of Wood May/June 2020

Fig. 22. Guindo (Nothofagus betuloides), herbarium

Fig. 21. Another huge southern beech (Nothofagus) by the trail from Chaltén to Laguna Torre

Fig. 23. Fall coloration of lenga (N. pumilio). By Fernando Lopez-Anido - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.

org/w/index.php?curid=15243479

Fig. 24. Nothofagus antarctica foliage. By Wouter Hagens - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.

php?curid=1906325

Fig. 25. Simple guide to leaves of southern beech, found in the arboretum in El Calafate

Fig. 26. Carvings made of calafate (Berberis microphylla) are bright yellow

Fig. 27. Calafate (Berberis microphylla). Upper left icorner nsert: Flower. By Chrislorenz9 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://

commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72975161

May/June 2020 World of Wood 23

The Perito Moreno Glacier is the main attraction with a beautiful metal boardwalk leading up more than one kilometer between the glacier lake and the glacier. The subarctic vegetation called the Bosque Andino Patagónico is on the other side. Even though the path does not allow diversions, it is possible to see and touch different species. Most were common to Tierra del Fuego. Nothofagus is represented by Lenga (N. pumilio), Ñire (N. antarctica) and Guindo (N. betuloides). Lenga is the most plentiful. Ñire can tolerate extreme conditions, as well as wet terrain. It loses its leaves in winter after developing beautiful autumn color. Guindo is evergreen. We asked a volunteer about the difference between the two. The explanation was very limited. We didn’t find much information at the tourist office either. So, out of prudence, I won’t put a scientific name on any. Also, we recognized Berberis microphylla

(Calafate) and Embothrium coccineum.

To go to Cerro Fitz Roy, our second destination, we had to go back to El Calafate to take a bus for two hours to the town of El Chaltén. This small town, very charming, was established in 1985, but gained importance after the new airport of El Calafate opened in 2000. El Chaltén is the starting point for trekking.

Of the many trails one was very interesting for us. It was 9 kilometers (~5.6 miles) one way, mostly flat along a glacier stream going west to Laguna Torre. I drank straight from the little stream and filled my jug with the glacier water. The section with old Nothofagus trees is amazing. Many huge trees were photographed (Fig. 20-21). Just like the other trails, no information was posted on the flora. So, we expected to find more information in El Calafate where we stayed for two days.

In El Calafate, we went to a botanical garden (arboretum) at the El Calafate Historical Interpretation Center. There, we found an herbarium with material, photos and details of the leaves of the most common Nothofagus (Fig. 22, 25). I don’t know why this material is so difficult to find. It is simply non-existent anywhere in Ushuaia or any of the national parks we visited. Some additional references can also be useful for identification, including Wikipedia (Fig. 23-24). I can suggest two references for more details on Nothofagus species. The first one is Le Genre Nothofagus: Hêtres de l’hémisphère austral by Aimée Camus, Botanique appliqué d’agriculture tropicale. 1951 pp 71-84 (https://www.persee.fr/doc/jatba_0370-5412_1951_

num_31_339_6744). Another reference is Árboles nativos de Argentina, Tomo 2: Patagonia by P. Demaio et al., 2015 (www.amazon.com/-/es/demaio/dp/9874003162). Or Sanz, Eduardo H.: Arboles Y Arbustos Nativos De La Patagonia Andina. San Carlos de Bariloche: Ediciones de imaginaria, 2001. Print. ISBN 9879855701. Any detail is better than none, so I suggest carrying photos or reference material during a trek. Aimée Camus’ drawing reproduced here might help (Fig. 28).

Before closing this article, I need to add a word on calafate. This shrub is the emblem of Patagonia. It is also the namesake to the city of El Calafate. The scientific name is Berberis microphylla G. Forst. (Berberidaceae). I read up on el Calafate (michay, box-leaved barberry, Magellan barberry). It was first named B. buxifolia Lam., but taxonomists found that the name had been used earlier,

Fig. 28. The Nothofagus species relevant to Patagonia correspond to: A) N. obliqua; B) N. antarctica; C) N. pumilio; G) N. dombeyi; H) N. betuloides; K) N.

nitida (Chile only)

24 World of Wood May/June 2020

Official National Trees of the World by Chuck Holder 5749 HL, S

This is a second update on a survey of the official trees of the nations of the world. The original survey was done by the author and published in WoW in the year 2000. An update was undertaken in 2010 and now in 2020 it seems timely for a second update. One may ask “why?” to which I would reply that, to me, it is a learning experience, particularly for anyone interested in trees of the world and the countries of world for that matter. It is recognized that the number of countries in the world is a moving target and one with many controversial situations regarding country status. One treatise on the subject cites several sources and concludes the number of “countries” is somewhere between 194 and 239. It seems we are in the ballpark therefore since the world regional country approach used in this survey totaled 203 countries:

Official Trees - by Main Regions of the WorldRegion Countries Official TreesAfrica 56 22Asia 47 46Caribbean & Central America

22 19

Europe 48 36North America 3 3Oceania 15 5South America 12 11TOTAL 203 142

Compared to the previous surveys, one trend seems clear

- more and more countries are declaring official national trees as time goes on. In fact, it appears that the number of countries reporting an official national tree has more than doubled in both absolute and percentage terms. This is a particularly encouraging trend indicating that more countries are recognizing the significance of trees in their national economies, environments and cultures and are designating “official” trees in recognition of such importance. Comparatively, the official tree count in our three surveys is as follows: Survey Year 2000 2010 2020 Countries 200 200 203 With Official trees 25 59 142

% with Official Trees 13% 30% 70%

I would be remiss if I did not recognize the recent efforts of the Australian IWCS group championed by Eugene Dimitriadis, in their revitalized efforts to have all the Australian states declare an official tree, leading to an effort to have the country to do the same. I wish them well in this effort.

For the record, the following table presents the results of this year’s survey, listing all countries, and the official national tree, that have been designated. AFRICA - 56 CountriesAlgeria: terebinth or turpentine tree (Pistacia terebinthus)Angola: imbondeiro tree, baobab (Adansonia digitata)Benin: no official treeBotswana: marula (Sclerocarya birrea ssp. caffra) Burkina Faso: no official treeBurundi: no official tree

so it had to be given a new specific epithet. It thus became B. microphylla. Calafate is a variable species, especially with respect to the shape of the leaf, and the plant has at times been treated as several distinct species. However, these variations are mainly due to the habitat in which the plant grows. The names are not consistent even within the local population. The Plant List database (http://www.theplantlist.org/) gives 13 taxa of B. buxifolia and considers them all synonymous to B. microphylla G. Forst.

I could not find any leftover wood on the ground as I did for ñirre. By chance I found a stand-owner in El Calafate town who had the permit to use it. It was for dead material only. I asked for a couple of pieces (Fig. 26). El calafate is an endangered species in its native habitat; that is why it cannot be harvested. This bush has a beautiful blueberry fruit (Fig. 27) used to make a jelly. It is sweet and tart and sold everywhere. It is a very thorny species, like other steppe flora. The wood is characteristic of Berberis, bright yellow (Fig. 26). Contrary to calafate wood, that of Darwin’s barberry (B. darwinii) is not yellow all over. Perhaps the specimen I found is spalted or more

weathered. Darwin’s barberry is grown as an ornamental and naturalized in other countries. Britain, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand are examples.

In conclusion, I would say that Southern Argentinian Patagonia is a must see. It is a unique and wild country, but low in tree diversity. A tree lover, at least a non-botanist like me, needs to be prepared with knowledge before going there if wanting to go further into Nothofagus species. Either that, or one needs to visit when trees bear diagnostic botanical details such as flowers or fruits. It took me eight days to sort out just the Patagonian species (thanks to El Calafate, town) and to know how to differentiate some species of the genus Nothofagus. By my own fault, I was not equipped well enough with tree books. Local assistance and information were difficult to find, if not missing.

To be continued with the story of the Northwest.

May/June 2020 World of Wood 25

Cameroon: no official treeCape Verde: no official treeCentral African Republic: no official treeChad: no official treeComoros: no official tree Congo (Brazzaville): no official treeCongo, Democratic Republic: no official treeCote d’Ivoire: no official tree Djibouti: Bankoualé palm (Livistona carinensis) Egypt: doum palm tree (Hyphaene thebaica)Equatorial Guinea: silk cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra)Eritrea: no official treeEswatini (Swaziland): no official treeEthiopia: no official treeGabon: no official treeGambia: no official treeGhana: no official tree Guinea: silk cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra)Guinea-Bissau: no official treeKenya: umbrella thorn acacia (Vachellia tortilis)Lesotho: no official tree Liberia: no official treeLibya: date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)Madagascar: baobab; generic (Adansonia sp.)Malawi; Mulanje cedar (Widdringtonia whytei) Mali: no official treeMauritania: hanza tree bush (Boscia senegalensis) Mauritius: no official tree Mayotte (Département de): no official treeMorocco: argan tree (Argania spinosa) Mozambique: no official tree Namibia: quiver tree (Aloidendron dichotomum)Niger: dead rat tree, baobab (Adansonia digitata)Nigeria: camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora) Rwanda: no official tree São Tomé and Príncipe: no official treeSenegal: no official treeSeychelles: no official tree Sierra Leone: no official treeSomalia: African or Herabol myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) South Africa: real yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius)South Sudan: no official treeSudan: umbrella thorn acacia (Vachellia tortilis)Tanzania: African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon)Togo: no official treeTunisia: olive (Olea europaea) Uganda: no official treeWestern Sahara: no official treeZambia: no official treeZimbabwe: no official tree

ASIA – 48 Countries Afghanistan: Afghan pine (Pinus eldarica)Armenia: no official treeAlgeria: terebinth, turpentine tree (Pistacia terebinthus)Azerbaijan: Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica) Bahrain: date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)Bangladesh: mango (Mangifera indica) Bhutan: Himalayan cypress (Cupressus torolusa)Brunei: simpor (Dillenia suffruticosa) Cambodia: palm tree, tanot (Borassus flabellifer)China: ginkgo, maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba)East Timor: sandalwood (Santalum album)

India: banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis)Indonesia: pohon beringin (Ficus benjamina)Iran: Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens)Iraq: date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)Israel: olive (Olea europaea)Japan: Japanese cherry blossom (Prunus serrulata) Jordan: Mount Tabor oak (Quercus ithaburensis)Kazakhstan: Asian spruce (Picea schrenkiana)Kuwait: date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)Kyrgyzstan: Siberian fir (Abies sibirica)Laos: frangipani tree (Plumeria sp.)Lebanon: cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani)Malaysia: merbau tree, Malacca teak (Intsia palembanica)Maldives: coconut tree (Cocos nucifera)Mongolia: shaman tree (Axis mundi)Myanmar: padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus)Nepal: sacred fig, bodhi tree, (Ficus religiosa) North Korea: Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis)Oman: olibanum, frankincense tree (Boswellia sacra) Pakistan: deodar or Himalayan Cedar (Cedrus deodara)Palestine: olive (Olea europaea)Philippines: narra (Pterocarpus indicus)Qatar: sidra (Frangula alnus)Saudi Arabia : date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)Singapore: tembusu (Cyrtophyllum fragrans)South Korea: Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis)Sri Lanka: ironwood, na tree (Mesua nagassarium)Syria: olive (Olea europaea)Taiwan: camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) Tajikistan: Asiatic elm (Ulmus pumila ‘Pinnatoramosa’)Thailand: golden shower, purging cassia (Cassia fistula)Turkey: Turkey oak, Austrian oak (Quercus cerris) Turkmenistan: foetid juniper (Juniperus foetidissima)United Arab Emirates: ghaf tree (Prosopis cineraria)Usbeckistan (Uzbekistan): no official treeViet Nam: Buddha’s-belly bamboo (Bambusa ventricosa) Yemen: Socotra dragon tree (Dracaena cinnabari)

Central America and Caribbean - 22 countriesAntigua & the Bahamas: whitewood (Bucida buceras)Aruba: divi-divi; windblown tree (Libidibia coriaria)Bahamas: lignum vitae (Guaiacum officinale)Barbados: bearded fig (Ficus citrifolia)Belize: Honduran mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) Costa Rica: guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum)Cuba: royal palm (Roystonea regia)Curacao: divi-divi, windblown tree (Libidibia coriaria)Dominica: no official treeDominican Republic: Cuban mahogany (Swietenia mahagoni)El Salvador: maquilishuat (Tabebuia rosea)Grenada: ackee tree (Blighia sapida)Guatemala: ceiba, kapok (Ceiba pentandra)Haiti: Cuban or Florida royal palm (Roystonea regia)Honduras: ocote, ocote chino (Pinus oocarpa)Jamaica: blue mahoe (Talipariti elatum)Nicaragua: madroño (Calycophyllum candidissimum)Panama: Panama tree (Sterculia apetala) Saint Kitts and Nevis: flamboyant tree; (Delonix regia)Saint Lucia: calabash (Crescentia cujete)Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: no official treeTrinidad and Tobago: no official tree

26 World of Wood May/June 2020

EUROPE - 47 countries Albania: olive (Olea europaea)Andorra: no official treeAustria: beech, generic (Fagus sp.)Belarus: European spruce (Picea abies) Belgium: Caesarsboom or Caesar’s tree (Taxus baccata)Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii) Bulgaria: Granit oak, an English oak (Quercus robur)Croatia: Slavonian oak (Quercus robur)Cyprus: golden oak (Quercus alnifolia)Czech Republic: small leaf linden (Tilia cordata)Denmark: European beech (Fagus sylvatica) and pedunculate oak (Quercus robur)Estonia: oak, generic (Quercus sp.)Finland: silver birch (Betula pendula)France: European or English yew (Taxus baccata) Georgia: no official treeGermany: oak, generic (Quercus sp.)Greece: olive (Olea europaea)Holy See or Vatican: no official treeHungary: acacia, black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)Iceland: no official treeIreland: sessile oak (Quercus petraea)Italy: olive (Olea europaea)Kosovo: European beech (Fagus sylvatica)Latvia: linden (Tilia sp.) & European oak (Q. robur)Liechtenstein: no official treeLithuania: oak, generic (Quercus sp.)Luxembourg: no official treeMacedonia: Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce)Malta: Sandarac gum (Tetraclinis articulata)Moldova: no official treeMonaco: carob (Ceratonia siliqua)Montenegro: no official treeNetherlands: no official treeNorway: no official treePoland: common oak, pedunculate oak (Quercus robur)Portugal: cork oak (Quercus suber)Romania: pedunculate oak (Quercus robur)Russia: Siberian fir (Abies sibirica)San Marino: no official tree Serbia: oak (Quercus sp.) & Serbian spruce (Picea omorika)Slovakia: small leaf lime or linden (Tilia cordata)Slovenia: linden, generic (Tilia sp.)Spain: evergreen oak (Quercus ilex)Sweden: Ornäs birch (Betula pendula ‘Dalecarlica’)

Switzerland: European yew (Taxus baccata)Ukraine: Guelder-rose or kalyna (Viburnum opulus)United Kingdom: royal oak, pedunculate oak (Q. robur)

NORTH AMERICA 3 countriesCanada: maple, generic (Acer sp.)Mexico: Montezuma bald cypress (Taxodium mucronatum)United States: oak, generic (Quercus sp.)

OCEANIA/AUSTRALIA - 15 countries Australia: no official tree; golden wattle is official flowerEast Timor: no official treeFiji: black tree fern (Cyathea medullaris)Kiribati: no official treeMarshall Islands; no official treeMicronesia: no official treeNauru: no official treeNew Zealand: pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa)Palau: Breadfruit tree (Artocarpus altilis)Papua New Guinea: Brass Phoenix palm (Brassiophoenix schumanni)Samoa: papago, ulafala (Pandanus tectorius)Solomon Islands: no official treeTonga: no official treeTuvalu: no official treeVanuatu: no official tree

SOUTH AMERICA 12 countriesArgentina: ceibo (Erythrina crista-galli) and red quebracho (Schinopsis balansae) Bolivia: no official treeBrazil: Pernambuco, brazilwood (Paubrasilia echinata) Chile: Chilean pine (Araucaria araucana) Columbia: wax palm tree (Ceroxylon quindiuense)Ecuador: quinine tree (Cinchona pubescens) Guyana: Moriche palm (Mauritia flexuosa) and Maripa palm (Attalea maripa) Paraguay: pink ipê (Handroanthus impetiginosus) Peru: cinchona or quinine tree (Cinchona pubescens)Suriname: tropical royal palm (Roystonea regia) and kapok, ceiba (Ceiba pentandra)Uruguay: cockspur coral tree (Erythrina crista-galli)Venezuela: araguaney (Tabebuia chrysantha)

Regis-treeNew members of the International Wood Collectors Society

Members’ Listings and RequestsMembers with wood specimens and books for sale

May/June 2020 World of Wood 27

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Salmon gum (Eucalyptus salmonophloia) is a beautiful, tough and resilient tree named after the ‘salmon colour’ of the bark. It is endemic to Western Australia and has been widely planted throughout Australia and the drier parts of the world as an ornamental and in reafforestation and revegetation projects.

Salmon gum occurs in 50 of WA’s 108 country local government areas. It occurs naturally from the western wheat-belt, east of Perth, through the Great Western Woodlands to the edge of the Nullarbor plain in an area that has an annual rainfall from 500 mm to 200 mm (~ 20” to 8”). Salmon gum can grow to 30 m (~ 100’) high and up to 1.5 m diameter (~ 5’). For salmon gums to grow to such large trees in a 250 mm (~ 10’) rainfall area shows just how tough and well adapted they are.

It was once more widespread and the most common tree throughout the WA wheatbelt in the broad valleys and on heavier loam soils. Although a lot were cleared and subsequently impacted by salinity, it still occurs in reserves, along roads and in paddocks with many iconic old trees. The extensive uncut and regrowth salmon gum stands across the Great Western Woodlands is where it can be seen in its original woodland occurrence. The afternoon sun on the salmon gum woodlands is a sight to behold.

Salmon gum has a long history of use in all areas and is culturally very important as many people, country towns and regions identify with it as do many Aboriginal groups. The Noongar people of the southwest and wheatbelt know it as ‘wurak’. The big salmon gum trees provide critical habitat for wildlife, especially the old trees with their many hollows.

Salmon gum is very fire sensitive and is killed by even mild fires, but it regenerates well after fire, often with a ‘wheat field’ of seedlings. It has very small buds and fruits for such a large tree with up to 1000 seeds per gram. It is sometimes used by beekeepers as a seasonal crop and yields good quality honey.

Salmon Gum (Eucalyptus salmonophloia F. Muell.)

The nominated IWCS State Tree Emblem for Western Australiaby Ian Kealley #9748

The timber is superb, suitable for specialty uses and furniture manufacture. It is tough and hard, having been extensively used in the mines for a century and as the main firewood that supported the WA Goldfields mines, pump stations and power generation through the wood-line (narrow gauge railway) firewood industry. From Kalgoorlie-Boulder the wood-line operations clear-felled 3.2 million ha (~ 7.9 million acres) of woodlands from 1900–1965, cutting up to 1200 metric tons (~ 1322 US ton) per day with an estimated 30 million metric tons (~ 33 million US tons) of timber cut. Salmon gum was the most common timber harvested supporting the development of WA.

Salmon gum is now used for ongoing domestic firewood supply and in small amounts for specialty timber purposes and as craft wood. The timber properties for salmon gum are:

· Air–dried density 1020–1050 kg/m³ (63.65–65.52 lb/cu ft) · Green density 1120–1170 kg/m³ (69.89–73.01 lb/cu ft)· Modulus of rupture (breaking strength) 108–117 MPa (15,560–16,965 PSI)· Modulus of elasticity 14,830–16,550 MPa (2.15–2.40 x 106 PSI)· Hardness 15.5 kN (3,485 lbf)· Green moisture content 25–33% · Fibre saturation point 28.6% · Shrinkage. Tangential. 5.8% @12% moisture content (mc); 8.1% @ 6% mc. Radial. 4.0% @12% mc; 5.9% @ 6% mc

Salmon gum is very worthy of being the nominated IWCS State Tree Emblem for Western Australia.

We just love it.

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Wood Meets

February 15 – 19, 2021 Monday thru Friday Breakfast Southeast Regional Winter Woodfest

Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center near Eustis, Florida, USA REGISTRATION: Elaine Hunt manleyandelaine@aol.com

PROGRAM: Don Smith dasmith424@aol.com

Join us at Lake Yale. The agenda includes several other demonstrations, lectures and the ever popular saw-mill and wood sales, craft, lumber and silent auctions.

POSTPONED till 2021 Australasian IWCS Conference and Annual General Meeting Monday 26th October to Friday 31st October 2020

ADELAIDE HILLS CONVENTION CENTRE at Hahndorf S A (Only 28 Km from Adelaide City)

Preliminary Notice of the 2022 Conference and AGM Geoff Holloway (Qld Rep) #9971IWCS AGM at Mt. Tamborine has moved from September 2021 to September 2022.

See page 13

International Wood Collectors Society12 August Alp Ct.St. Charles, MO 63303-5302, U.S.A.

NON PROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGE PAIDINDIANAPOLIS, IN

PERMIT # 8

Two glued-up specimens of Darwin’s barberry wood, mixed heartwood and sapwood (top: 50 mm (2”) long, 75 mm (3”) wide, 7 mm (0.28”) thick, bottom:

45 mm (1.77”) long, 70 mm (2.75”) wide, 7 mm (0.28”) thick, collected by Réjean Drouin and mounted on Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), from left to right: in daylight, under shortwave UV (254 nm), under longwave UV (366 nm). UV source: handheld Model UVGL-25 MINERALIGHT LAMP, Multiband UV-254/366NM 115 VOLTS, 60 Hz 0.16 AMPS. Manufacturer : UVP, Upland, CA 91786, U.S.A. From the collection of Mihaly Czako, photos by Mihaly Czako

#5220-L. Related story by Réjean starts on page 16.

Wood Specimens of Darwin’s Barberry

Darwin’s barberry is native to Chile and Argentina and is naturalized elsewhere and can be invasive. Berberis darwinii flowering shoot. Photo by MPF, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=862254