Northern Grey Ironbark

Description:

Eucalyptus siderophloia, the Northern Grey Ironbark, is a eucalyptus of south-eastern Australia. It's a member of the Myrtaceae family. Instead of being shed annually as in many of the other species of Eucalyptus, the dead bark of the Ironbark accumulates on the trees, forming fissures. It becomes rough after drying out and becomes impregnated with 'kino', a dark red tree sap exuded by the tree. The bark is resistant to fire and heat and protects the living tissue within the trunk and branches from fire. In cases of extreme fire, where leaves and shoots are removed, the protective bark aids in protecting epicormic buds which allows the tree to reshoot. The tree can grow to a height of 45 mtrs, is a slow-growing species and long-living.

Habitat:

This species of Ironbark occurs in NSW and QLD, north of Sydney in wet forest soils of reasonable fertility. This tree was spotted in Glen Rock National Park.

Notes:

This tree caught my eye immediately simply because it was so black. It stood out for quite some distance. I thought fires may have been through the area but this turned out not to be the case. Parts of the tree's bark was so heavily impregnated with kino that it was soft to touch, and very sticky. It also appeared that parts of the central trunk was dead. A gnarly and very interesting specimen. Not big by any means, but it had character.