This tree section is from one of Tasmania’s ‘forest giants’, a gum-topped stringybark (Eucalyptus delegatensis subspecies tasmaniensis). Unique to Tasmania, it grows in a range of rainfall regimes and thrives at elevations between 400 and 900 metres above sea level, where it replaces its lowland relative, stringybark (E. obliqua). Eucalyptus delegatensis is one of five Tasmanian eucalypts that regularly exceed heights of 85 metres, the others being Eucalyptus regnans, Eucalyptus obliqua, Eucalyptus globulus and Eucalyptus viminalis. A Tasmanian E. regnans holds the current record for the world’s tallest flowering plant, reaching just short of 100 metres. 

A ‘forest giant’ begins life in the aftermath of an intense wildfire as seedling eucalypts can’t compete in the dense shade of a mature forest. If it manages to out-compete its siblings over the subsequent two centuries, it will take its place amongst the giants. It may continue to grow in girth (but not height) for another three centuries, unless another wildfire intervenes. Even in its declining years, when its limbs and trunk hollow, it will play host to hundreds of other species such as possums, bats, wedge-tailed eagles, spiders, beetles, mosses, lichens and fungi.

While all known giant trees on Tasmanian public land are protected, these species also form the cornerstone of the state’s native forestry sector – producing strong, versatile timber that is marketed as Tasmanian oak. The push towards conservation of these species and the habitats that they grow in continues to be a divisive issue in Tasmania. This tree section was salvaged from the butt of a tree that had been harvested for timber.

The genus, Eucalyptus, was described by French botanist, Charles L’Héritier de Brutelle, in 1788 from specimens of Eucalyptus obliqua collected at Adventure Bay, Tasmania in January 1777, by David Nelson – the botanist with Captain James Cook’s voyage in the ships, Resolution and Discovery.