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Alphitonia excelsa
Also called Soap tree, Mountain ash, Cooper's Wood, Leather Jacket, Pink Almond, Red Tweedie, Red Almond
Red ash (Alphitonia excelsa) is a native Australian and New Guinea tree, grown as a shade and street tree and used as a pioneer species in bush regeneration. It is fast growing and tolerates a range of conditions once established.
Alphitonia excelsa, commonly known as the red ash or soap tree, is a species of tree in the family Rhamnaceae. It is native to New Guinea and Australia, where it is found in New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory, and the northeastern tip of Western Australia. It is used in bush regeneration as a pioneer species and for amenity planting.
It grows in eucalypt forests, eucalypt and acacia savannas, gallery forests and rainforests of NSW from Mount Gulaga (previously known as Mount Dromedary) northwards along the coast and inland to the Pilliga scrub, through Queensland and the Northern Territory and into the northeast of Western Australia. Inland forms can be stunted in appearance. It prefers sandy soils.
Trees are quick growing in cultivation. This is an Australian ornamental tree, with some specimens of high visual appeal. It may be used in amenity planting as a street tree providing shelter. It has also been used in boat-building and cabinet making, its tough timber a light red or brown in colour. It can be a fodder plant for sheep and cattle, and is a useful pioneer species in bush regeneration. Indigenous Australians used the leaves as a soap due to the plant's high saponin content.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Alphitonia excelsa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
