Prickly ash facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Prickly ash |
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| Orites excelsus in the New England National Park | |
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Orites
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excelsus
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The Prickly Ash (scientific name: Orites excelsus) is a cool tree from eastern Australia. It's also known as mountain silky oak or white beefwood. This plant is part of the Proteaceae family, which includes many unique Australian plants.
This tree is endemic to Australia, meaning it's found naturally only there. It grows in rainforests and can be a medium to tall tree. Its leaves are interesting, often having different shapes and tiny teeth along their edges. The flowers are white and grow in spikes.
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What Does Prickly Ash Look Like?
The Prickly Ash tree can grow up to 30 meters (about 98 feet) tall. Its bark is usually smooth and brown or grey. When new shoots appear, they are covered in rust-colored hairs.
Its leaves can be shaped like an oval, a spear, or an egg. They are usually between 40 and 185 millimeters (about 1.5 to 7 inches) long. The leaves are shiny green on top and grey or whitish underneath. They often have lobes (rounded sections) and small teeth along their edges.
The flowers are white or creamy-white and smell nice. They are about 6 millimeters (0.2 inches) long. These flowers grow in spikes that are 50 to 110 millimeters (about 2 to 4 inches) long. You can see them bloom from winter to early spring. After flowering, the tree produces boat-shaped fruits called follicles. These are about 20 to 30 millimeters (0.8 to 1.2 inches) long.
Where Does Prickly Ash Grow?
You can find the Prickly Ash in cool mountain rainforests. It grows in New South Wales, from a place called Barrington Tops all the way north into south-eastern Queensland. It also lives on Mount Bellenden Ker and Mount Bartle Frere in north Queensland.
These trees like to grow at high altitudes. In New South Wales, they are found above 750 meters (about 2,460 feet). In north Queensland, they grow even higher, between 1,000 and 1,500 meters (about 3,280 to 4,920 feet) above sea level. It often grows near another tree called yellow carabeen (Sloanea woollsii).
How Prickly Ash Was Named
The Prickly Ash was first officially described in 1830. A botanist named Robert Brown gave it its scientific name, Orites excelsus. He wrote about it in a book called Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae. The first samples of the tree were collected by Charles Fraser near the Hastings River in 1818.
Scientists have also found very old fossil leaves that look a lot like the young leaves of the Prickly Ash. These fossils were found in New Zealand and are from a time called the Eocene epoch, millions of years ago.
Uses for Prickly Ash Timber
The wood from the Prickly Ash tree has been used for different things. People have used its timber to make roof shingles, which are like tiles for roofs. It has also been used for making casks (large barrels), furniture, and joinery (parts of buildings like doors and windows).
