6 ms·

Because of their COVID response, or something else?

• mjh2539 6y ago
  The constant wildfires make Californians feel at home there.
  • chrismorgan 6y ago
    You import our eucalypts, you import our bushfires! (For those not in the know: eucalyptus trees are extremely flammable. In very hot, dry conditions, their oil can become a vapour around them so that you would be well advised not to light a flame within a metre, as the tree may catch fire and occasionally even explode.)
    • sethammons 6y ago
      That’s wild and unexpected. We (used to) burn eucalyptus for heating the house. A dry log will not light and stay lit without a healthy bed of coals in the wood stove. I would think a tree adapted for brush fire would be more fire resistant. But a brief search does validate that on very hot days, the oil can vaporize and is indeed very flammable. The seasoned firewood must behave different than the live tree; the oil may have dried out at that point. TIL.
      • chrismorgan 6y ago
        Various Australian trees actually depend on fire to propagate. I love going through areas that were burned out in recent months—you get fresh green growth springing up everywhere, and a lot of the trees that got burned become absolutely covered in fresh green sprouting branches, and it contrasts beautifully with the black from the burning.
        • sethammons 6y ago
          Similar, pine trees in our former area require fire to propagate. Nature!