Jackwood Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Jackwood

Jackwood by the Hacking River, Royal National Park, Australia
Scientific classification
Genus:	Cryptocarya
Species:	glaucescens

Cryptocarya glaucescens, commonly known as jackwood, is a cool rainforest tree found in eastern Australia. It belongs to the laurel family, just like the bay laurel used in cooking! This tree is known for its interesting bark and tasty fruit that birds love.

About the Jackwood Tree
What Does Jackwood Look Like?
- Bark, Trunk, and Leaves
- Flowers, Fruit, and Life Cycle
Where Jackwood Trees Grow
How People Use Jackwood
Gallery
See also

About the Jackwood Tree

Have you ever wondered how scientists give names to plants and animals? It's called taxonomy! The jackwood tree, Cryptocarya glaucescens, got its scientific name from a Scottish botanist named Robert Brown way back in 1810. He described it in his book Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae.

People also call this tree by many other names. Some common ones are native laurel, brown beech, brown laurel, bolly laurel, and silver sycamore.

What Does Jackwood Look Like?

The jackwood is a medium-sized tree. It can grow quite tall, up to 35 metres high. Its trunk can be as wide as 90 centimetres across!

Bark, Trunk, and Leaves

The bark of the jackwood tree is usually dark brown or reddish brown. It often looks scaly and isn't smooth at all. You might even see circular dents in the bark. These are sometimes called "bollies." Another tree, the Litsea reticulata, also has these.

The trunk might be straight or a bit bumpy. Large jackwood trees often have wide, strong bases that look like buttresses.

Jackwood leaves grow in an alternating pattern along the branches. They are shaped like an oval, about 6 to 13 centimetres long. The top side of the leaf is green. But if you look underneath, it's a cool bluish-grey color. This bluish-grey color is called "glaucous," which is why the tree's scientific name is Cryptocarya glaucescens! You can see the main vein and smaller veins on both sides of the leaf, but they are clearer on the underside.

Flowers, Fruit, and Life Cycle

Jackwood trees produce small flowers from October to December. They are usually cream or pale green. These tiny flowers grow in clusters called panicles. These clusters can be shorter or longer than the leaves.

The fruit of the jackwood tree is a type of drupe. It's black and shiny when ripe, and it can be oblong or round. The fruit has cool vertical lines and wrinkles. It's about 18 millimetres long and 15 millimetres wide.

The fruit has a thin, fleshy part around the seed called an aril. This aril has a unique, tangy, and pleasant smell! Rainforest birds, like the topknot pigeon, love to eat these fruits. The fruits are usually ripe from March to June.

If you want to grow a jackwood from seed, you don't really need to remove the thin fleshy part of the fruit. The roots and shoots usually start to grow within three to six months.

Where Jackwood Trees Grow

Jackwood trees are very common in warm temperate rainforests. But you can also find them in other types of rainforests. They grow along the eastern coast of Australia. You can find them from Mount Dromedary in southern New South Wales all the way up to Eungella National Park in tropical Queensland.

How People Use Jackwood

The wood of the jackwood tree is a pale brown color. A good thing about its sapwood is that it's not usually damaged by tiny insects called powder post borers.