Alphitonia excelsa, commonly known as the Red Ash or Soap Tree, is a species of tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

 in the Rhamnaceae

Rhamnaceae

Rhamnaceae, the Buckthorn family, is a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs and some vines.The family contains 50-60 genera and approximately 870-900 species. The Rhamnaceae have a worldwide distribution, but are more common in the subtropical and tropical regions...

 family. It is endemic to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, being found in New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and the northeastern tip of Western Australia. It is used in bush regeneration

Bush regeneration

Bush regeneration, a form of natural area restoration is the term used in Australia for the ecological restoration of remnant vegetation areas, such as through the minimisation of negative disturbances, both exogenous such as exotic weeds and endogenous such as erosion...

 as a pioneer species

Pioneer species

Pioneer species are species which colonize previously uncolonized land, usually leading to ecological succession. They are the first organisms to start the chain of events leading to a livable biosphere or ecosystem...

 and for amenity planting.

Taxonomy and naming

Alphitonia excelsa was first described by Eduard Fenzl

Eduard Fenzl

Eduard Fenzl was an Austrian botanist.An obituary notes "[h]e was Professor of Botany and Director of the Imperial Botanical Cabinet, a member of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, and Vice-President of the Vienna Horticultural Society."...

 and reclassified by George Bentham

George Bentham

George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...

. One of 20 species of the genus Alphitonia

Alphitonia

Alphitonia is an arborescent genus of flowering plants with about 20 species, belonging to the buckthorn family of the rosid eudicots. It occurs in tropical regions of Southeast Asia, Oceania and Polynesia. These are large trees or shrubs. In Australia, these plants are often called "ash trees" or...

in Australia and the Pacific Islands, its specific epithet is derived from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 excelsus 'tall'. Other common names include Red Almond, Silver Leaf, Leatherjacket, White Leaf, White Myrtle, Sarsaparilla Tree, and Coopers Wood.

Description

This tree reaches a height of 7–25 m (23–82 ft), by 5–10 m (16.4–32.8 ft) across. The Red Ash has a spreading shade-producing habit when a larger tree with an overall greyish green appearance. The alternate leaves measure 5–14 cm (2-6 in) in length and 2–5 cm (1-2 in) wide and are dark glossy green above and silvery with fine hairs underneath, making an attractive contrast on windy days. The trunk and larger branches bear fissured grey bark, while smaller branches have smoother grey or white bark. It bears small greenish white flowers in late autumn and early winter, followed by globular dark fruit around 1.5 cm (0.5 in) in diameter, which contain two seeds. When young shoots are bruised, they give off a typical odour of sarsaparilla

Sarsaparilla

is a perennial trailing vine with prickly stems that is native to Central America. Common names include Sarsaparilla , Honduran Sarsaparilla, and Jamaican Sarsaparilla...

. The flowers are fragrant in the evening.

Distribution and habitat

It grows in eucalypt

Eucalypt

Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...

 forests, eucalypt

Eucalypt

Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...

 and acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

 savannas, gallery forest

Gallery forest

Gallery forests are evergreen forests that form as corridors along rivers or wetlands and project into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands or deserts....

s and rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s of NSW from Mount Gulaga

Mount Gulaga

Mount Gulaga is one of the highest mountains on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. It rises above the village of Central Tilba and is within the Gulaga National Park...

 (previously known as Mount Dromedary) northwards along the coast and inland to the Pilliga scrub

Pilliga forest

The State Forests of The Pilliga, commonly known as the Pilliga Scrub , constitute some 3000 km2 of semi-arid woodland in temperate north-central New South Wales, Australia...

, though Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 and the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

 and into the northwest of Western Australia. Inland forms can be stunted in appearance. It prefers sandy soils.

Ecology

It serves as a food plant for the caterpillars of the Moonlight Jewel (Hypochrysops delicia), and the caterpillars of the Small Green-Banded Blue (Psychonotis

Psychonotis

Psychonotis is a genus of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae....

caelius taygetus).

Uses

Trees are quick growing in cultivation. This is an Australian ornamental tree, with some specimens of high visual appeal. It may be used in amenity planting as a street tree providing shelter. It has also been used in boat-building and cabinet making, its tough timber a light red or brown in colour. It can be a fodder plant for sheep and cattle, and is a useful pioneer species in bush regeneration.