How do I identify a gidgee tree?
Gidgee or Acacia cambagei is a member of the Acacia family and is identified by its distinct, dark brown hardwood with narrow band of yellow sapwood. Being a heavy timber, and classified as the 3rd hardest wood in the world according to The Wood Data Base, gidgee blunts tools with ease.
Is gidgee wood poisonous?
It’s very poisonous to cattle and sheep even if they eat a few leaves, but stock raised in the infested areas can learn to not to eat the plant. “If the cattle take more than even one leaf they can simply die, especially when they heat up during mustering or even walking into water.
Where does gidgee wood grow?
Australia
Acacia cambagei, commonly known as gidgee, stinking wattle, stinking gidgee in English, or gidjiirr, by transliteration from indigenous languages of north-western NSW, is an endemic tree of Australia.
What is a gidgee?
1a : a somewhat scrubby Australian acacia (Acacia cambagei) that grows chiefly in dry inland regions and has an extremely foul-smelling blossom.
What does gidgee wood look like?
Color/Appearance: Heartwood is medium to dark reddish brown, sometimes with darker streaks. Sharply demarcated sapwood is yellow. Curly figuring is also seen on some pieces, and is called “ringed gidgee.”
Is gidgee a good firewood?
It is a dense timber, weighing 1300kg per cubic metre. Gidgee is classified as the 3rd hardest wood in the world, according to The Wood Data Base. Much of the timber is not straight and can only be used for firewood or making charcoal.
What is ringed gidgee?
The Ringed Gidgee is a member of the Acacia family (same family as Koa). It grows in arid regions of Australia resulting in dense hard wood like Desert Ironwood. The slow-growing gidgee may hang on for hundreds of years and produces one of Australia’s hardest and most durable timbers.
How big do gidgee skinks get?
7-10” long
The gidgee skink is typically 7-10” long, although they can grow as long as 12”. They have a stout, almost obese appearance with a small head, thick body, sturdy limbs, long toes, and a short, spiny tail.
What is the strongest wood on earth?
Australian Buloke – 5,060 IBF An ironwood tree that is native to Australia, this wood comes from a species of tree occurring across most of Eastern and Southern Australia. Known as the hardest wood in the world, this particular type has a Janka hardness of 5,060 lbf.
What is the best firewood in Australia?
In Western Australia, Jarrah and Wandoo are considered the best. In Tasmania, Brown Peppermint is considered best. In South Australia, Victoria and Southern NSW it is generally River Red Gum. In Queensland, Ironbark and Box are preferred.
What plants are similar to Gidgee?
Gidgee communities are floristically similar to brigalow communities. Eucalyptus cambageana, E. populnea, Corymbia terminalis, Eremophila mitchellii and Geijera parviflora are typical woody species associated with gidgee communities.
What is gidgee wood?
Being a heavy timber, and classified as the 3rd hardest wood in the world according to The Wood Data Base , gidgee blunts tools with ease. Still, it is a wood well worth wrestling with. The native Kalkadoon people made Nulla Nulla’s, shields, boomerangs, swords and clapsticks from its rich, brown wood.
Why do Gidgee trees stink?
The slow growing gidgee thrives in arid, challenging terrains. In humid weather, the leaves, bark and litter round the base of the tree give off a odour which accounts for the ‘stinking’ moniker.
What is the smell of gidgee?
The leaves, bark, and litter of A. cambagei produce a characteristic odour, vaguely reminiscent of boiled cabbage, gas or sewerage that accounts for the common name of “stinking gidgee”.