197 



Leaven. Attention is specially invited to the amended description of the 

 leaves already given. The drawing of j^ 1 . australis leaves in Flinders' Voyags 

 is an admirable one. 



Fruit. The natives of the Moluccas use the rough tuberculated fruits 

 as rasps for preparing roots, <kc., for food (Treasury of Botany). The. species 

 referred to is F. amboinensis, Poir. It is very possible our aborigines have 

 put the fruits of F. australis (known as Kasp-pod) to a similar purpose. 

 They very probably ate the seeds of this and other Flindersias, but I cannot 

 find any record of their having done so. 



The overlapping part of the fruit-valves of F. australis is muricate or 

 rough in this species and smooth in all others, and is a useful diagnostic 

 character. 



Bark. The bark is an important character, and serves to distinguish it 

 from the other Flindersias with which it might be confused. It is dark brown 

 and rough scaly, all the other species with which I am acquainted having 

 A smooth bark. 



Timber. Of the first rank, one of the best, indeed, that New South 

 Wales produces. Not only is it extensively used in this State, but it was 

 largely exported to Germany. It is close-grained, heavy, difficult to work, and 

 cracks somewhat unless carefully dried. The colour is yellowish-brown, 

 and it has no figure. It is so hard that it will break the axe in chopping 

 unless great care be exercised. While it is very strong, it has a somewhat 

 short fibre, like beech, hence it cannot be used for wine casks, a use which 

 was proposed. 



It is a splendid building timber. At first sight when cut into boards it ia 

 scarcely distinguishable from Hoop Pine (Araucaria Cunninghamii). It is 

 cut in large quantities, especially for flooring boards, and defies the white 

 ants for a long time. It is excellent for outside walls, where it will last forty 

 or fifty years. It is the best timber for slabbing a well, as it does not turn 

 the colour of the water like any of the other timbers. It is durable in or 

 out of the ground. Teak is superior to ironbark for some purposes. It is 

 used for gearing wheels, and it does not splinter in the pressure of one tooth 

 against another. It is considered to-be the best all-round firewood on the 

 Richmond, only excelled by " pine-knots." As firewood it can be used quite 

 green, and if a freshly-felled log be set fire to it will burn clean away. It 

 is more inflammable when green than when dry. 



A large and fairly tall tree, with deciduous bark. Wood bright-yellow, of a 

 distinctive odour: clastic, very oily, hard, strong, and durable. Iron fastened 

 into it will not rust. :is is the case with nearly every other kind of timber. 



Vseful/for general building purposes, especially verandah flooring-boards (it 

 having of late years taken the place of Beech, being much more plentiful and 

 cheaper), coach-building, railway-carriage, and coopers' work. It makes an 

 excellent substitute for brass plmmner blocks, in which (without oil) shafting 

 may be run at a fairly high rate of speed. In this way it has been found 

 especially suitable for the shafts or spindles of heavy grindstones. It is one 

 of our most useful and durable timbers. (Cat. Queensland Forestri/ Mus., 

 1904.) 



Size. It attains a height of 100 to 120 feet, and a diameter of 3 to 4 

 ifeet. 



In the Sydney newspapers of 14th May, 1906, the following paragraph 

 appeared : 



Murwillumbah Mr. J. Riley. of Mooball, brought the largest teak log ever 



drawn in the district into the local station. It was 16 feet 6 inches in girth, 

 being portion of a log containing 10.000 feet, estimated to be worth over 30." 



