Lignotuber

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Lignotuber of Cussonia paniculata partly exposed above ground
Camphor trees
at the Vergelegen Estate

A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the

botanist Leslie R. Kerr.[citation needed
]

Plants possessing lignotubers include many species in Australia:

Eucalyptus ficifolia (scarlet gum) all of which can have lignotubers ten feet (3 m) wide and three feet (1 m) deep, as well as most mallees (where it is also known as a mallee root[3]) and many Banksia
species.

Plants possessing lignotubers on the western coast of the USA include California buckeye, coast redwood, California bay laurel (aka Oregon myrtle), and multiple species of manzanita and Ceanothus.[2]

At least 14 species in the

oak species including cork oak Quercus suber, but do not develop in several other oak species, and are not apparent in mature cork oak trees.[4]

The fire-resistant lignotubers of Erica arborea, known as "briar root", are commonly used to make smoking pipes.

The largest known lignotubers (also called "root collar burls") are those of the Coast Redwood (

Cinnamomum camphora) of Japan, China and the Koreas. Ones at the Vergelegen Estate in Cape Town, South Africa, which were planted in the late 1600s have muffin-shaped lignotubers up to six feet (2 m) high and about 30 ft (9 m) in diameter.[6][7] Perhaps the largest lignotuber in Australia would be that of "Old Bottle Butt", a Red Bloodwood Tree (Corymbia gummifera) near Wauchope, New South Wales, that has a lignotuber about 8 ft (2.4 m) in height and 16.3 m (53 ft) in circumference at breast height.[8]

Many plants with lignotubers grow in a shrubby habit, but with multiple stems arising from the lignotuber. The term lignotuberous shrub is used to describe this habit.[citation needed]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lignotubers.
  1. S2CID 17448762
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-82491-0
    .
  3. ^ Thomson, Sophie (14 October 2006). "Mallee Trees". Gardening Australia. Series 17, Episode 35. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  4. JSTOR 2445037
    .
  5. ^ Del Tredici, Peter (Fall 1999). "Redwood Burls – Immortality Underground". Arnoldia. 59 (3): photo and caption p. 19.
  6. ^ Esterhuyse, Neels; et al. Remarkable Trees of South Africa. Pretoria: Briza Publications. pp. 102–103.
  7. ^ Pakenham, Thomas. Remarkable Trees of the World. New York: W. W. Norton and Co. pp. 122–123.
  8. ^ "National Register Of Big Trees". Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
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