White Beech
| Gmelina leichhardtii | |
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| Gmelina leichhardtii at Davis Scrub Nature Reserve, Australia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Genus: | Gmelina |
| Species: | G. leichhardtii |
| Binomial name | |
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Gmelina leichhardtii (F. Muell.) Benth. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Vitex leichhardtii F.Muell. |
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Vitex leichhardtii F.Muell.
Gmelina leichhardtii, commonly known as the white beech is a rainforest tree of eastern Australia. Scattered individuals or small groups of trees naturally occur from the Illawarra district of New South Wales (34½° S) to near Proserpine in tropical Queensland. The white beech or grey teak is a fast-growing tree, growing on volcanic and alluvial soils in areas of moderate to high rainfall. It also grows on poorer sedimentary soils in fire free areas. White beech may occasionally be seen in Australian rainforests, their status is considered "uncommon". Unlike the Australian red cedar, the white beech has not recovered particularly well after logging in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Ferdinand von Mueller described the white beech as Vitex leichhardtii in 1862, from collections near Myall Creek by Ludwig Leichhardt and Clarence River by .George Bentham reassigned it to the genus Gmelina in his 1870 Flora Australiensis. The genus name honours German botanist Johann Georg Gmelin, while the species name honours Leichhardt, who explored and collected specimens from the country's east and north. White beech was previously classified in the Verbenaceae, but its genus and many others have been transferred into the mint family Lamiaceae. White beech is the standard trade name for the timber, as well as a common name for the species, due to the similarity of the wood to that of European beech. Other common names include grey teak.
Mature specimens of white beech reach 15 to 30 m (49 to 98 ft) tall, though exceptional individuals can reach 60 m (200 ft) tall, and live for centuries. The base of the largest trees exceeds two and a half metres in diameter, and the trunk is cylindrical with a flanged but not buttressed base. The flanging can extend up the bole. The bark varies from light to dark grey and has a scaled surface with vertical cracks marking sections of trunk. There can be burls. Considered by some to be a semi-deciduous species, losing part of the canopy in late spring. Green leaves are almost always found at the base of the tree, assisting with tree identification. Branchlets are thick, grey or brown and hairy, with easily visible leaf scars. The new shoots are densely covered in fine fur.
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Wikipedia