TASMANIAN TIMBERS. 61 



ACACIAS 



BLACKWOOD (^Acacia melanoxylon) . 



Melanoxylon means blackwood. This tree is very gener- 

 ally distributed, but only grows in single trees or in clumps. 

 It attains a height of sixty to eighty feet, and a diameter 

 of from two to four feet. It is of a dark-brown colour, with 

 reddish rings, but sometimes of a li^ht-brown. It has much 

 the appearance of Walnut, and m.akes an excellent furniture 

 wood. Some trees are beautifully figured. It is used for 

 all kinds of furniture, including pianos and billiard tables. 

 The timber varies in quality, and the sort where the reddish 

 grain predominates is called, locally, '' Pencil Cedar." 

 Again, a third variety, which is of a lighter colour, lighter 

 weight, and freer grain, is called " Lightwood." These 

 three names for varieties of the same timber sometimes 

 cause confusion. 



There is a small but steady output of this timber, and it 

 is exported to the other States of the Commonwealth for 

 furniture, carriage-building, and as staves for casks ; but 

 there it not sufficient quantity of it, in accessible places, for 

 a large trade. 



SILVER WATTLE {Acacm dealhatd). 



So called from its blue-green silvery foliage. It is a tree 

 that grows up to fifty or sixty feet in height, with a diameter 

 of from twelve to thirty inches, and produces a somewhat 

 porous timber of a dark-brown to a yellow-brown colour, 

 easily split, fairly tough, and used and exported chiefly for 

 cask stave®. It is occasionally used for furniture, and when 

 polished has a very handsome grain. 



This timber is not to be had in large quantities. The 

 bark is used for tanning. 



BLACK WATTLE {Acacia decurrens). 



Called " black " from its dark bark and dark green leaves, 

 and decurrens from two lines " running down " from the 



