Jul 30 2008
The Mighty Huon Pine
The mighty Huon pine, with its exquisite smell, dominates the southern rainforest wilderness.
Tasmania has large areas of cool temperate rainforest, very different from rainforest found in warmer climates of mainland Australia. The Tasmanian rainforests are silent, dark and damp, and the tree trunks and forest floor are festooned with a luxuriant carpet of mosses and lichens. In autumn and early winter, the rainforest floor is dappled with an array of brightly coloured fungi.
You find the most ancient tree species here. The rainforest hasn’t changed in 60 million years.
The Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii) derives its common name from the stands which once occurred along the Huon River, itself named after Huon de Kermandec, commander of the French ship, L’Esperance. The species is restricted to western and southern Tasmania, where it is largely confined to riverine habitats.
It’s a relic of the early landmass Gondwana, is one of the longest living plants in the world, and grows to an age of 3000 years or more. Only the bristle-cone pine of North America lives longer.
There is a stand of Huons on the west coast of Tasmania more than 10,000-years-old where all the trees are male and are genetically identical.
The wood contains an oil which retards the growth of fungi, hence its early popularity in ship building, but these days the tree is wholly protected and cannot be felled. The current area of remaining pine is the remnant of a much wider original range that has been reduced by fire, inundation, logging and mining. Today, the remaining stands are well protected within reserves, the majority being within the World Heritage Area.
The wood on the forest floor remains usable after centuries and is still prized by modern woodworkers, not least because of its sweet aroma.
Like to shout me a cold beer?
