Eucalyptus bosistoana (Coast Grey Box)

Natural Range – Coastal Victoria/NSW

E. bosistoana is found in coastal areas of eastern Victoria and up into NSW, just south of Sydney in areas with mean annual rainfall of 700-1200 mm per year. It is the largest of the box group being a tall straight stemmed tree with small rounded crown. The species grows well on fertile soils, preferably over limestone. It can survive both periodic waterlogged soils and periods of drought. It can withstand up to 40 frosts per year.

It is a very good class 1 durable species producing timber with pale brown/pink sapwood with darker heartwood – with fine, even-texture and interlocked grain. It has very high density (1100 kg/m3) and is therefore heavy and moderately difficult to work. It was historically used for poles, sleepers and fences in Australia. The species was almost cut to exhaustion in the 1920s because of its high durability and stability.

The species does not yet feature in any Australian tree breeding programme, so there are no opportunities to source improved material. Therefore, Proseed NZ Limited, with the help of Forests NSW, has collected seed from wild families in Australia. This seed has been generously donated to the programme by Proseed. There are also a few mature stands of E. bosistoana planted in New Zealand that have been reported by Scion (Nicholas, 2007) and Proseed intends to make seed collections from sites where landowners will grant access.