Dawson Gum

    (Eucalyptus cambageana )

Also known as: Dawson River Blackbutt, Coowarra Box

Dawson Gum is common across the Highlands and grows to around 25 metres tall with trunks to over 1 metre in diameter. It apparently likes salty soils (sodic) and there is a lot of it around the Clermont area. It's quite easy to distinguish with the first 2 to 3 metres of the trunk covered in a thick, black bark while the rest is smooth and white to grey depending on the time of year.

As eucalypts go (I'm not a fan!), Dawson Gum is not too bad at all. It seems to season without too much cracking or movement. The timber is moderately heavy but cuts comparably easily with little dust produced - much like dense 'Tassie Oak'. The timber sands very well and finishes very nicely with hard-wax oil.

Dawson Gum is a popular host species for mistletoe and commonly develops a burl-like structure where the two species of timber intertwine to produce some really special character. (Egg# 412 in the collection)

This tree at Clermont is a good example of the Mistletoe taking over a Dawson gum. When the Mistletoe is as abundant as this it usually kills the tree in time. The pic on the left shows the 'burl' where one of the Mistletoes and its branch have died already and the other branches will eventually follow suit.

Lidded box finished with Kunos Oil. 

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