Trees

An African palm tree can produce about 4 ton/ha/year, or 8,000 pounds, in its natural habitat, the rain tropical forest.

It has two kinds of oil: the kernel palm, from the seed, and the oil from the pulp, the oil palm. Booth are international commodities.

The African palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) is the second palm tree more knowed and comercialized in the world, after coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) and followed by data palm (Phoenix dactilifera).

In Brazil, where slaves of the Colonization period has brought seeds from their African countries, the African palm tree became well adapted, mainly in Pará and Amazonas states (in Amazon region), where the weather has enough humidity. The same occurs in Bahia state, next to Ilhéus. In Belém, some biodiesel is produced from the co-products of the pulp oil extration, by Agropalm industries.

The principal uses of their oil is for siderurgy, lubricating and nutrition, and the biggest world producers are Malaysia, New Zealand and Thai.

Finally, African palm tree is being studied and researched in Brazil, where are hibrids and variations like tenera and dura wich protects the plantation against diseases.

Native species have many benefits over exotic ones. Here are a few reasons to go native:

• Tend to be more resistant to local insects and diseases
• Better adapted to the local climate
• Typically require less watering and fertilizing (if planted on proper sites)
• Provide food and shelter for wildlife
• Do not add any foreign chemicals to the soil composition

There are several species of holly native to North America. Check the related links for more information.

Softwood comes from conifers, i.e., trees with needles. Hardwood comes from deciduous trees.

Note that by this classification, balsa is a hardwood, but the balsa wood is actually very soft.

Softwoods have needle-like leaves. They are generally pine varieties. (Note that they are not called 'softwoods' because they are soft, many hardwoods are actually quite soft.) They are usually non-pored, open-grained, light and some are soft. However, most softwood building components need to be bigger and at closer spacings than hardwoods.

One softwood, Pinus Radiata, can be made less prone to termite attack and decay by a chemical treatment called CCA. This gives the timber a greenish colour. Softwoods such as Oregan (Douglas Fir), Western Red Cedar and Cypress Pine are suitable for external uses, as is treated Radiata Pine. However, untreated Radiata Pine, Hoop Pine and King Billy Pine are not suitable for external use.

Softwoods are cheaper than hardwoods and increasingly available because of pine plantations.

The most common species in the Australian building industry are:

Radiata Pine Western Red Cedar Oregan (Douglas Fir) King Billy Pine Slash Pine Hoop Pine Cypress Pine.