''Toona ciliata'' is a

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

tree in the

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

which grows throughout

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and

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 ...

Names

It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), tone, toon or toona (also applied to other members of the genus '' Toona''), Australian red cedar, Burma cedar, Indian cedar, Moulmein cedar or the Queensland red cedar. It is also known as Indian mahogany.

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

names include Polai in the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

. Woolia on the

Richmond River The Richmond River is a river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may ...

, Mamin & Mugurpul near

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, and Woota at Wide Bay. Also called Ai saria in

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

Description

The tree has extended compound leaves up to 90 cm with 10-14 pairs of leaflets which are narrow and taper towards the tip. Each leaflet is between 4.5 and 16 cm long. The species can grow to around in height and its trunk can reach in girth with large branches that create a spreading crown. It is one of Australia's few native

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 ...

trees, with the leaves falling in autumn (late March) and growing back in spring (early September). The new leaf growth is reddish pink in colour. The tree produces masses of white flowers that are very small and tubular in shape. The fruits are green capsules which senesces to a brown colour and tear open into star shape to release seeds, which are small and winged.

Habitat

In Australia, the tree's natural habitat is

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

s of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

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 ...

, much of which has been extensively cleared. The Australian population was formerly treated as a distinct

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

under the name ''Toona australis''. The southernmost limit of natural distribution is on basaltic soils, growing west of the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

near the village of Termeil, south of

Ulladulla Ulladulla () is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia in the City of Shoalhaven local government area. It is on the Princes Highway about south of Sydney, halfway between Batemans Bay to the south and Nowra to the north. Ulladulla has cl ...

, southern

, New South Wales. It also occurs naturally at

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

. The largest recorded ''T. ciliata'' tree in Australia grew near Nulla Nulla Creek, west of

Kempsey, New South Wales Kempsey is a town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia and is the council seat for Kempsey Shire. It is located roughly 16.5 kilometres inland from the coast of the Pacific Ocean, on the Macleay Valley Way near where the P ...

and was felled in 1883. It grows best in an environment with high light levels, however in the relative darkness of the rainforest understorey, it is less susceptible to attack by the cedar tip moth. The cedar tip moth lays its eggs on the tree's leading shoot, allowing the larvae to burrow into the stem. This causes dieback and a multi-branched tree with little commercial value. The tree exudes a chemical that the female cedar tip moth seeks out. This moth does not attack commercial plantings of Asian/African/Australian native meliaceas in South America. As a result, successful planting of ''Toona ciliata'' is being observed in many parts of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, including genetic improvement and clonal production.

Uses

The timber is red in colour, easy to work and very highly valued. It was used extensively for furniture, wood panelling and construction, including shipbuilding, and was referred to as "red gold" by Australian settlers. Heavily and unsustainably exploited in the 19th and early 20th centuries, almost all the large trees have been cut out and the species is essentially commercially extinct. Availability of this timber is now limited. Timber is currently also harvested in New Guinea. Although it is not generally a viable plantation species, trees are regularly harvested by Forestry in the Atherton region of Queensland.

Other areas

The red cedar is widely planted in subtropical and tropical parts of the world as a shade tree and for its fast-growing aspect. It is grown in the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

of the United States, and southern and eastern Africa. In parts of

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, it has naturalised; growing to maturity and spreading from seed.

Reproduction and dispersal

''Toona ciliata'' reproduces by seed. It is a prolific seed producer and establishes readily. Jagdev Saw Mills
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Gallery

Image:Toona ciliata - capsules and seeds.jpg, ''Toona ciliata'' - capsules and seeds Image:Toona ciliata - germinating seeds.jpg, ''Toona ciliata'' - germinating seeds Image:Toona ciliata - seedlings.jpg, ''Toona ciliata'' - seedlings Image:Toona ciliata - red leaves.JPG, ''Toona ciliata'' - red leaves Image:ToonaciliataMtKeiraSept24-00.jpg, ''Toona ciliata'' - red leaves in September, Mount Keira,

, NSW Image:Toona ciliata Bark.jpg, ''Toona ciliata'' bark, tree near Macksville, New South Wales, Australia Image:Toona ciliata, Long Gully.jpg, Stand of approximately 10 mature ''Toona ciliata'', south of

Drake, New South Wales Drake is a parish and small rural community on the Bruxner Highway approximately 44 km east of Tenterfield, New South Wales and about 800 km north of Sydney, New South Wales. It is in the Tenterfield Shire local government area, whi ...

, a rare sighting in this area Image:2yearoldredcedar.jpg, Two-year-old red cedar, growing in a backyard,

Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

Image:Toona_ciliata_var._pubescens.jpg, A 60-year-old ''Toona ciliata'' var. ''pubescens'' in

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Image:Toona ciliata Tamban State Forest.jpg, A stand of ''Toona ciliata'' near

Image:Toona ciliata Barrington 40 metres.jpg, 40-metre ''Toona ciliata'', leafless in August, with

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

Dendrobium ''Dendrobium'' is a genus of mostly Epiphyte, epiphytic and Lithophyte, lithophytic orchids in the Family (biology), family Orchidaceae. It is a very large genus, containing more than 1,800 species that are found in diverse habitats throughout m ...

'' orchids at Barrington Tops, Australia Image:Cedro bv 9 anos.jpg, Eight-year-old seedling-planted ''Toona ciliata'', Campo Belo, southeast

Image:CEDRO 5 ANOS BV.jpg, Four-year-old - 17 meter cloned ''Toona ciliata'', Campo Belo, southeast Brazil Image:Viveiro clonal de cedro australiano.jpg, Clones production ''Toona ciliata'', Campo Belo, southeast Brazil

References

External links

Australian timbers

National Register of Big Trees

Distribution Map
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2739400 ciliata Sapindales of Australia Trees of Australia Least concern flora of Australia Least concern biota of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Norfolk Island Flora of tropical Asia Flora of China