''Corymbia tessellaris'', commonly known as carbeen or Moreton Bay ash, is a species of tree that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to north-eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the lower trunk abruptly changing to smooth, whitish bark above, narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, white flowers and cylindrical or urn-shaped fruit

Description

''Corymbia tessellaris'' is a tree that typically grows to a height of and forms a

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...

. The trunk is almost always straight, making up a half to two thirds of the total tree height, with a

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

of slender branches. It has rough, tessellated greyish bark on the lower of the trunk, abruptly changing to smooth whitish bark above. Young plants and

coppice Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeated ...

regrowth have lance-shaped leaves that are arranged in opposite pairs at first, long and wide, tapering to a short petiole or

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

. Adult leaves are arranged alternately, the same shade of green to greyish on both sides, narrow lance-shaped to linear, long and wide on a petiole long. The flower buds are arranged on the ends of branchlets on a branched peduncle long, each branch of the peduncle with three or seven buds on

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

long. Mature buds are oval to pear-shaped, long and wide with a rounded operculum, often with a small point on the tip. Flowering mainly occurs between October and January and the flowers are white. The fruit is a cylindrical or urn-shaped, thin-walled capsule long and wide on a pedicel long and with the valves enclosed in the fruit.

Taxonomy

Carbeen was first formally described in 1859 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

who gave it the name ''Eucalyptus tessellaris'' in '' Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Botany''. In 1995, Ken Hill and

Lawrie Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic botany, botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Garden ...

changed the name to ''Corymbia tessellaris'', publishing the change in the journal '' Telopea''.

Distribution and habitat

''Corymbia tessellaris'' is widespread in north-eastern Australia where it grows in undulating open forest and woodland. It is found from

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

and south through eastern Queensland to near

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. At ...

and

Kyogle Kyogle () is a town in the Northern Rivers region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It falls within the local government area of Kyogle Council. At the 2016 census, Kyogle had a population of 2,751 people. Kyogle is known as a "gateway" ...

in northern New South Wales. It also occurs on some

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total land ...

and in southern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

Uses

Indigenous uses

Yirrganydji The Yirrganydji (Irrukandji) people are an Indigenous Australian people of Queensland who trace their descent from the ''Irukandji'' and, as such, are the original custodians of a narrow coastal strip within Djabugay country that runs northward ...

and

Djabugay The Djabugay people (also known as Djabuganydji or Tjapukai) are a group of Australian Aboriginal people who are the original inhabitants of mountains, gorges, lands and waters of a richly forested part of the Great Dividing Range including th ...

people use medicine made from the tree to treat wounds and conditions such as

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

and use the wood to make tools.

Use in horticulture

Carbeen is resistant to strong winds, heat and drought and can be propagated from seed.

Use in industry

The wood is heavy and has been used for bridge construction and making spears. The tree produces many organic compounds with industrial potential including

pinene Pinene is a collection of unsaturated bicyclic monoterpenes. Two geometric isomers of pinene are found in nature, α-pinene and β-pinene. Both are chiral. As the name suggests, pinenes are found in pines. Specifically, pinene is the major compo ...

s, aromadendrene,

limonene Limonene is a colorless liquid aliphatic hydrocarbon classified as a cyclic monoterpene, and is the major component in the oil of citrus fruit peels. The -isomer, occurring more commonly in nature as the fragrance of oranges, is a flavoring ag ...

and globulol.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4588582 Trees of Australia tessellaris Myrtales of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of New Guinea Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Plants described in 1859