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Common Name: SILKY OAK - Sold as LACEWOOD in North America.
Botanical Name: Grevillea robusta A.Cunn.ex R.Br.
Height to: 40 m. Diameter to: 1.0 m.
Wood Colour: Pinkish to reddish-brown.
Weight (seasoned 12% m.c.) approx: 570 kg/cu.m. Texture: Coarse, even with oak-like rays, silky lustre.
Comments: In its native environment Silky Oak is a rainforest tree along the coastal rivers of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. It is now relatively rare in its natural state, however it is very adaptable and is frequently found in many cities and towns of Australia as an ornamental tree in streets and gardens. It is a very attractive tree with a pyramidal shape, giving good shade and is a magnificent spectacle in spring when it is in flower.
The wood of Silky Oak is very similar to Northern Silky Oak, Cardwellia sublimis, and both are highly sought after for cabinetmaking. It has been planted as a shade tree in plantations in India and Sri Lanka (tea), South Africa (banana) and New Guinea (coffee).
Common Name: HUON PINE
Botanical Name: Lagarostrobos franklinii Hook.f.
Height to: 30 m. Diameter to: 1.0 m.
Wood Colour: Pale yellow.
Weight (seasoned 12% m.c.) approx: 520 kg/cu.m.
Texture: Usually straight grained. Fairly strong characteristic odour. Soft timber.
Comments: Huon Pine, formerly classified as Dacrydium franklinii , is found mainly in swampy or moist soils of the river flats in south-western Tasmania and is endemic to that area. It is usually 20m. or so high, but has been known to grow to 38 m., and has a slightly rough grey bark which, having been hewn, will weather to a beautiful silver colour.
It is an extremely slow growing tree which can take 600 years or more to reach maturity. It is one of the few conifers which, when a branch touches the ground and becomes covered, will form roots from which a tree sprouts.
In 1994 a single tree (meaning one organism which has the same DNA structure) covering more than a hectare in area, was discovered which may be up to 10,500 years old. Whatever its age is finally worked out to be, it is suspected that it could possibly be the oldest living organism on earth.
The tree contains an essential oil, methyl eugenol, which gives the wood its characteristic smell, repels insects and makes it very durable. Logs which have been buried in the ground for hundreds of years have been found to be usable because of this oil. Huon is a very sought after timber by craftspersons and designer/makers and is in extremely short supply.
Texture: Straight grain, fine and uniform texture.
Comments: No-one knows why Myrtle Beech is called so, as it has no obvious resemblance to European Myrtle nor is it a member of the botanical Myrtaceae family.
Myrtle Beech grows in rich, moist valleys of Tasmania and Victoria where it can be a tall tree attaining 40m in height and 2.5m in diameter. In Tasmania it is also common as an understorey tree up to 18m tall in open forests or as a scrub less than 1.5m tall at high altitudes and on sites exposed to wind. In spring the young leaves are a rich golden bronze colour with catkins appearing in spring to summer. It is fire-sensitive but will regenerate quickly from seed on disturbed sites.
The Nothofagus genus is an indicator of plate tectonics and helps trace the break-up of the super continent of Gondwana. The genus is of Gondwanan origin and is found in South America, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand. New Caledonia and New Guinea, but not in Africa or India. Therefore it is presumed that the genus first appeared after Africa and India had broken away, precisely where is still open to debate.
Texture: Usually straight grained and close textured with marked growth rings.
Comments: This excessively slow growing tree is only found in the cool temperate rainforests of Tasmania. Due to its slow growth rate it is not grown in plantations and hence its management is of special importance. The quiet presence of the timber makes it popular as internal panelling and it is being used increasingly as a weatherboard that does not require painting - under these conditions it weathers to a beautiful-silver grey colour. The wood has a distinctive grain but is sometimes confused with the more famous Huon Pine, Lagarostrobus franklinii. For a softwood, Celery Top Pine is strong, hard and has low shrinkage. These qualities, combined with its durability and resistance to water, make it ideal for functional items and particularly useful for table and kitchenware. It takes its name from the formation of its cladodes (which look like its leaves) which are actually flattened branchlets having the superficial appearance of celery leaves. The true leaves are reduced to tiny scales on the branches.
Sources
The information contained in the descriptions has been gleaned from numerous people, organisations and publications, among them:
Cunninghamia, the National Herbarium of New South Wales
