Celery Top
Member of the conifer family native to Tasmania. Grows in the wetter regions of the northeastern forests, and in the southern rainforests. The timber ranges from a creamy white to a mellow rosy gold.
Celery Top (Phyllocladus Aspleniifolius) is a conifer native to Tasmania.
It is named for its distinctive celery-like leaves and is best know as a hard and durable timber, used in the early days for railway sleepers and stair treads.
The tree is readily recognised by its bark, which is a dark reddish brown and occurs as thick tessellated plates with numerous raised pores.
The leaves are dark green, thick and leathery, and are about 2cm broad and 5cm long.
Both male and female cones are small and the female cone is quite distinctive.
The black seed is encased in a soft white sheath above a red fleshy aril, with the fruit having the appearance of a diminutive yew cone.
The fruit is thought to be attractive to birds as germinants are often found beneath roost trees.
The species can be found over much of the forested area of Tasmania from wet areas in the drier forests of the Northeast, to the rainforests of the far Southwest.
It forms an understorey component of wet forest, or is dominant on wet soils with poor fertility.
The diameter of matures trees ranges from 40 to 85cm. They can reach 40m in height and live for up to 800-900 years; ages of less than 350 years are common.
The timber is creamy white, darkening to a mellow rosy gold hue over time and with exposure to sunlight. It has distinct annual rings with a pronounced latewood and, being slow grown, this feature gives it a hardness, strength, and density not expected of conifers.
Celery top is light and easy to work, it turns well and has long been employed in the traditional crafts of boat building and spindle turning.
The timber is valued for its durability and for its ability to withstand exposure well. It provides a hard wearing surface for flooring and has an attractive fine-grained appearance.
Feature such as knots and other figures provide character to furniture constructed of Celery top. Knots are sound and hard, the timber planes and sands well, and accepts varnish, stains, and paint readily.
The tree can be seen at Mt. Field in the South or most other mature wet forests across the State.