Red Cedar

Scientific: Toona ciliata
Awabakal: Koolai
Worimi: Wutabang

This is a Red Cedar tree, known in the Awabakal language as Koolai. Its scientific name is Toona ciliate.

Red Cedar can grow to be 60 metres tall and is one of Australia's few deciduous trees. It reproduces by seed and grows best in subtropical and tropical environments in deep, well-drained basalt soils.

When European colonists first occupied Newcastle in 1797, ancient rainforests of Red Cedar grew in abundance across much of the Hunter Region. It was recognised as a valuable timber for furniture and building construction, and demand was high. Convict timber getters felled Red Cedar in large quantities, starting with the most easily accessed trees growing along the banks of the Paterson, Hunter, and Williams Rivers. Felled logs were lashed into rafts and transported by the flow of the rivers to Newcastle.

Outside rainforest environments, Red Cedar saplings are more susceptible to larvae attacks that deform their trunks, making reforesting or growing Red Cedar plantations difficult.

By the early 20th century, Red Cedar had been logged to the point of commercial extinction.
 

See in the museum:

Location: Newcastle on the World Stage
Label: The Welsh

Location: Work
Label: Cedar Felling

Location: Beaumont Street
Label: 52 Beaumont Street - Fred Barrie

Location: Link Gallery
Label: Newcastle 1953