Despite their common names, Australian timbers are not botanically related to northern hemisphere timbers of the same name. However, Australian timbers may have colour or figure similar to northern hemisphere timbers.
Tonality is not affected by the type of wood chosen.
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Australian Blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon Honey to chocolate brown with varying grain from very straight to highly figured, the latter now scarce. It has a lustrous appearance. |
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Camphor Laurel, Cinnamomum camphorae Stripey brown to grey often with interesting figure. Aromatic. |
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Queensland Maple, Flindersia brayleyana Light pink to brown. It can have a lustrous appearance with wavy or fiddleback grain and is decorative. Unrelated to northern hemisphere maples. |
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Queensland Rosewood, Dysoxylum fraseranum Pink brown to red brown, sometimes with swirling, smells like roses when cut. Not a rosewood but one of the mahogany family. |
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Queensland Walnut, Endiandra palmterstonii Grey to chocolate brown, often of striped appearance, similar in colour to northern hemisphere walnuts. |
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Silky Oak, Grevillea robusta Light brown, always showing a prominent ray figure similar to oak. |
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Silver Ash, Flindersia bourjotiana Pale straw colour with straight grain, and sometimes a fiddleback wavy figure. Lustrous appearance. |
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Tasmanian Myrtle, Nothofagus cunninghamii Dark pink to honey brown sometimes with birdseye (as shown here) or tiger stripe grain. |