''Erythrophleum chlorostachys'', commonly known as Cooktown ironwood, is a species of leguminous tree endemic to northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Description

The Cooktown ironwood is semi-

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

, dropping much of its foliage in response to the prolonged winter dry periods which are the norm within its native range. The foliage of the tree contains toxic levels of

alkaloids Alkaloids are a broad class of naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large variety of organisms i ...

and has been responsible for numerous deaths of both cattle and horses. The species is a source of timber, which is exceptionally hard and dense as well as being highly

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

resistant.

Distribution and habitat

The species occurs from north-eastern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

to the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It is found in a wide range of environments, from arid

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

Usage

Virtually all culturally modified trees in ''

Eucalyptus tetrodonta ''Eucalyptus tetrodonta'', commonly known as Darwin stringybark or messmate, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is endemic to northern Australia. It has rough, stringy or fibrous bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped leave ...

'' woodland on Cape York Peninsula are Cooktown ironwoods. Most of these are 'sugar bag scars' where Aboriginal people have cut through the cambium into the heartwood of the tree to remove honey from native bees. Scars have been made using both stone axes (in pre-contact times) and steel axes (post-contact). These have particular significance to Aboriginal people as the tangible representation of past cultural practices. The large number of hollows found in Cooktown ironwoods at Kakadu National Park are also likely to be culturally modified trees (e.g. Taylor 2002 Figure 6.8).

References

*Boland, D.J., Brooker M.I.H, Chippendale, G.M., Hall, N., Hyland, B.P.M., Johnstone, R.D., Kleinig, D.A., Turner, J.D. (1984). "Forest trees of Australia." CSIRO. Melbourne. *Dunlop, C.R., Leach, G.J. and Cowie, I.D. (1995). "Flora of the Darwin region. 2." Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory. Darwin. *Morrison, M., McNaughton, D. and Shiner, J. (2010). "Mission-Based Indigenous Production at the Weipa Presbyterian Mission, Western Cape York Peninsula (1932-66)". International Journal of Historical Archaeology 14:86-111. *Taylor, R. (2002). "Ironwood Erythrophleum chlorostachys in the Northern Territory: aspects of its ecology in relation to timber harvesting". Report to Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia. chlorostachys Fabales of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of the Northern Territory Rosids of Western Australia Trees of Australia Drought-tolerant trees Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller {{Caesalpinioideae-stub