From Common Forest Trees of Hawaii

Brush Box
Lophostemon confertus
Eucalyptus-Like family (Myrtaceae)

Post-Cook introduction

Large tree related to Eucalyptus, introduced in forest plantations. Planted as an ornamental and for shade. Differs from Eucalyptus by the leaves, which are crowded at the ends of twigs, and the very numerous united in five groups.


©2015 Zoya Akulova
To 60 ft (18 ) high with a straight trunk 1 1⁄2 ft (0.5) in diameter or larger, with a narrow rounded of dense foliage. Bark gray brown, becoming rough, thick, slightly scaly with long fissures. Inner bark is light brown, fibrous, and slightly bitter. Twigs light green and with tiny pressed hairs when young, turning brown and shedding outer layer, with rings of raised half-round leaf scars. End buds light green, with rounded overlapping

Leaves mostly 4–5 at enlarged though borne singly (), gray hairy when young, becoming hairless. leaf-stalks slender, light green, 1⁄2–1 inch (13–25 ) long, flattened. Blades elliptical or narrowly 2 1⁄2–6 inches (6–15 ) long and 1–2 1⁄2 inches (2.5–6 ) wide, long-pointed at short-pointed at base, slightly thick and leathery, above dull green with light yellow and very fine side veins, beneath dull light green.

Flowers 3–7 clustered at the end of short flattened unbranched stalks 1⁄2–1 inch (13–25 ) long at leaf bases and back of leaves, white, fragrant, about 1 inch (2.5 ) across. cup () conical, 1⁄4 inch (6 ) long and broad, light green, hairy, bearing five pointed green five rounded white petals about 1⁄2 inch (13 ) long, short-stalked and hairy, and very numerous short threadlike white united in five columns 3⁄8 inch (10 ) long; with half inferior three-celled and threadlike

(seed capsules) 1–7 clustered at end of flattened stalk on twig back of leaves, cup-shaped, 3⁄8–5⁄8 inch (1–1. 5 ) in diameter, light green to brown, opening at flattened hard, three-celled. Seeds are many, light brown, less than 1⁄8 inch (3 ) long, narrow.

Sapwood is pale brown and heartwood pinkish to grayish brown. Wood heavy ( gr. 0.61), with fine texture and mildly interlocked grain but little figure. It has a relatively large shrinkage in drying and tends to warp in seasoning. It is not subject to severe growth stress problems in manufacturing as are certain eucalypts. Wood grown in Hawaii is moderately resistant to decay and termites. Wood from Australia is classed as very resistant to both. In Hawaii, it has been used for pallets, flooring, and pulp chips, generally mixed indiscriminately with the wood of Eucalyptus saligna. Elsewhere, used for construction, shipbuilding, bridges, railway crossties, and mallets. A sizable amount of flooring of this species has been imported to Hawaii from Australia.

Planted in moist areas of Hawaii in forest plantations and as a handsome shade tree. The Division of Forestry has planted more than 396,000 trees in the forest reserves on all islands, but mostly on Oahu and Hawaii. Oahu has 1.1 million board feet of timber and Hawaii 1.3 million. Trees may be seen at Waahila Ridge State Park (St. Louis Heights) and Keaiwa Heiau State Park (Aiea Heights). Also planted for shade in the Fort Street Mall in downtown Honolulu. Grown also in southern California and Florida.

Special areas
Wahiawa, Aiea, Tantalus

Champion
Height 60 ft (18.3 ), c.b.h. 12.9 ft (3.9 ), Spread 47 ft (14.3 ). Ulupalakua Ranch Co., Ulupalakua, Maui (1968).

Range
Native of east coast of Australia

Other common names
Brisbane-box, vinegartree

Botanical
Tristania conferta R. Br.

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

cm -- A centimeter which is about 0.4 inches.

m -- A meter is about 10% larger than a yard.

style -- This is a long and thread-like structure that connects the stigma with the ovary. A flower may have a single style, or several of them.

scale -- A very small leaf around a dormant bud. Also other things that might remind one of fish scales on the surface of ferns, stems and the like.

midrib -- The central and most prominent vein of a leaf or leaf-like thing.

The apex is the tip or the furthest point from the attachment.

alternate -- leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

A pistil is the female structure of many flowers. It contains one or more carpels. Each carpel contins an ovary, style and stigma. The stigma receives the pollen which grows thru the style to reach the ovary.

An evergreen tree retains a large portion of its green leaves all year.

node -- The point at which there is attached growth, as in the place where each leaf is attached.

lobe -- Rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ). Lobes bulge out about 1/4 of the leaf diameter.

basal -- at the base, situated or attached at the base.

calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

canopy -- The foliage of a tree; the crown. Also the upper layer of a forest.

synonym -- In botany a synonym is a species name that at one time was thought to be the correct name for a plant but was later found to be incorrect and has been replaced by a new name.

The hypanthium or floral cup is a cup-like structure formed by the fused bases of the stamens, petals, and sepals.

mm -- millimeter. About 1/25th of an inch.

sp. -- The abbreviation for "species". The plural is "spp". When used it sometimes means that the exact species is unknown. For example, "Aster sp" would mean some species within the Aster genus but the writer may not know exactly which species.

ovate -- Oval, egg-shaped, with a tapering point.

An ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower. Above the ovary is the style and the stigma, which is where the pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary.