WOOLLYBUTT

How can that name not bring a smile to your miserable mug? And you have to thank the Aussies for that. It would definitely be on my hypothetical list of favourite words.

Where does the name "Woollybutt" come from? Well the website www.woollybutt.com.au (so it must be true) tells us the following:

"In Victoria and Tasmania, Woollybutt is the name given to Alpine Ash or Eucalyptus delegatensis. As a timber, Alpine Ash is highly regarded and very important to the hardwood industry. To foresters, Alpine Ash is often referred to as 'the foresters’ friend because it is so easily regenerated after harvesting operations.

Woollybutt mostly forms beautiful pure stands of straight timber with a grass and fern understorey. In best conditions it can reach up to 80 metres in height, making it one of the tallest Eucalypts in the world behind Mountain Ash. The bark is thick and fibrous (woolly) at the base [butt?] and pure, smooth white above peeling in ribbons. The smaller branches often have a silver colour and the bark is usually covered in distinctive “scribbles” from insect larvae."

Ok, that wasn't quite as interesting as I'd hoped it to be.

Woollybutt is also the name of an oil field discovered on the North West shelf of Australia in April 1997. If I adopt another cat I'd call it Woollybutt. Hell I'll probably start calling the one I have Woollybutt. I might even call my nephew Woollybutt (behind his mother's back, of course).

Woollybutt Woollybutt Woollybutt!!!