I just learned of a great new wood

[jmowreader]

It is called Lyptus. They make flooring out of it, among other things--Weyerhaeuser is bringing it in from South America. You can also get rough stock.

Lyptus is a naturally-occurring hybrid of two Eucalyptus cultivars. When they discovered the Lyptus tree and its amazing properties (its Janka hardness is in the 1800s, as opposed to hard maple's 1450--Janka hardness is the number of pounds of pressure required to force a .44" ball halfway into the surface of the wood--and it looks like a cherry-colored mahogany), they also discovered that the tree likes to grow in places that can't be logged. So they set up two plantations, one in Brazil, the other in Uruguay, and planted them with a mix of Lyptus and native species.

What makes this tree interesting to liberals is the speed at which it grows. Lyptus grows to market size in 15 to 20 years. Market size is 120 feet tall by 2 feet diameter. When you cut it down, it grows back from the same stumps.

A tree that grows that fast will solve a lot of problems.

[Benhurst]

1. Sounds promising. Thanks for the post. NT

[mike_c]

2. but will converting forest land to Lyptus plantations...

...simply exacerbate the most important biodiversity issue-- habitat loss? And since Eucalyptus is not native to South America, this sounds like a recipe for invasive species disaster-- a hybrid that out grows everything in the forest. And reproduces vegetatively with ease. This has ecological disaster written all over it.

[jmowreader]

12. Biodiversity seems to have been worked in

A Lyptus plantation isn't monocultural like...oh, an American "managed forest" would be. They're mixing native trees into the Lyptus plantations--and, because the native trees are not the species of interest in these forests, they seem to be letting them stand.

[jayctravis]

16. I don't know much about trees...

but if a tree could grow from a stump, it doesn't seem like it would be savage about reproduction and taking over all the other plantlife resources...

[renate]

3. yay! good environmental news!

What a refreshing change!
:party:

on edit: well, except for the points made in #2....:(

[mike_c]

4. I dunno-- on the face of it this sounds more like an invasive species...

...disaster than "good environmental news."

[Ladyhawk]

5. I hope it works and catches on.

I think we're all going to have a rude awakening when capitalism can no longer support itself. I'm no communist, but I'm no laissez faire capitalist either. I'm not even much of an economist, but it isn't hard to figure out that economic growth is only as infinite as earth's resources. We need sustainable resources. We needed sustainable resources thirty years ago, but the Republicans derailed that idea. :(

[uppityperson]

6. Interesting, will watch and see what comes of this.

[Cleita]

7. I really don't trust Weyerhaueser anymore than I do Unocal.

I think you need to find out a lot more.

[jody]

8. Some of the Lyptus hype is Weyerhauser et al touting. Lyptus has

drawbacks and is unlikely to replace traditional woods like cherry, mahogany, maple, etc. for premium cabinets and furniture.

[jmowreader]

17. I can think of one major drawback it has

It's too fucking hard to turn into cabinetry. Look at the side hardness--it's way harder than maple, which is the hardest wood used in the cabinets we sell. The 1800 hardness rating puts it up there with purpleheart, which is rated as "almost too difficult to work." (Purpleheart's biggest use in the United States is on cargo trailer load decks--and it's bolted down.)

It's almost too hard to use as flooring. You install tongue-and-groove flooring by knocking nails in at an angle with a "flooring nailer" that's powered by either a three-pound sledgehammer or compressed air depending on the nailer.

Lyptus is not nearly as hard as lignum vitae, which is available once again now that the plantations are up and running. (How hard is lignum vitae? Its major use is as sleeve bearings for propeller shafts on ships. It won't corrode from seawater, it's self-lubricating and it's more durable than phosphor bronze.) But it's still plenty hard.

[Bryan Buchan]

9. Very interesting...I could only hope it is

not treated by the US as hemp is treated. Granted, I bet you cannot get high off of Lyptus. However when it comes to such a remarkable resource with so many benefits industry views its prospect as "unprofitable" for some insane reason(s). I am going to google search this....thanks.

Bryan

[Donailin]

10. I know another great new wood

KNORWOOD!!!!!!http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=5569648&Mytoken=20050818192300

(my kids' band -- Joey and Ricky Gonzalez. I'm their mom, it's my duty to plug them)

They're not market size yet, only 15 and 16, but in twenty years they better be solving my problems for a change. :evilgrin:

[oasis]

11. At last, some good news concerning our environment. Thanks.

[Schema Thing]

13. Don't forget Poland or bamboo.

This sounds great though.

[hatrack]

14. Very interesting - thanks for the post!

:toast:

[grasswire]

15. Is there any genetic modification?

I saw something about this wood on TV the other day, and was wary.

[jmowreader]

18. It's a "naturally occurring" hybrid

Eucalyptus cultivar A meets eucalyptus cultivar B and out comes a wood that's harder than either one of them.

If you want to get worried, start looking at the GM experiments the New Zealanders are doing with Radiata pine. Radiata pine is a wonderful wood, but they're starting to screw around with it--the usual Roundup resistance, insect resistance set plus they're trying to get the Radiata pines to grow straighter than they normally do. That's kind of a strange one considering that Radiata pine is one of the straightest trees there is, but they're trying to get it straighter. (I'm surprised that some freeper "botanist" isn't down there trying to invent a Radiata pine that's square and without bark.)