BEEFWOOD 



No. 165. BEEFWOOD. Stenocarpus salignus. R. Br. 

 PLATE XVIII. FIG. 158. 



Natural Order. Proteaceae. 



Alternative Names. Silky Oak : Silvery Oak (85). Many 

 species belonging to this order and to the Casuarineae pass under 

 the name of Silky Oak or Beefwood. The latter name is also 

 applied to several Sapotaceous woods. 



Sources of Supply. South Queensland, New South Wales, 

 Eastern Australia. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 32-59^ Ibs. 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade 5-8. Smell none. Taste astringent. 

 Burns well with a lively, noisy flame : little smoke, but a peculiar 

 smell : no resin expelled by heat. Solution golden-brown. 



Grain. Coarse and open. Surface of the ground-tissue 

 lustrous, silky. Rays bright in transverse section, but dull in 

 vertical section. 



Bark. ? The ends of the rays appearing upon the outer surface 

 of the log occupy about half the area exposed. 



Uses, etc. " Cabinet-making, cooper's work " (5). " Splits 

 readily, . . . the finer kinds of cooper's work " (78). A beauti- 

 fully-marked wood of bold and pretty figure. 



Authorities. F. M. Bailey (5), p. 119. Kew Cat. (57), pp. 49, 

 51. Nilson (85), p. 119. Boulger (12). Laslett (60), p. 256. 

 C. Morris (78). 



Colour. Deep red heart-wood. Sap-wood brown, about I inch 

 wide. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : 



Pores. Readily visible from their size, Grade 2, uniform : 

 regularly distributed in concave loops between the rays (dentate) : 

 pore-ring scarcely to be spoken of, a pore-group or two between 

 each large ray alternating with zones of the later wood without 

 pores : isolated or in sub-divided clusters, mostly single pores 

 or pairs : few, 1-13 per sq. mm. : accompanied by or strung on 

 a line of lighter-red soft-tissue : often ruby contents. 



Rays. Conspicuous : bright in this section, size 2, broad : 

 made up of rectangular cells in rows (as many as 13 rows), not 

 two sizes (at least within the limits of my specimen) : somewhat 

 irregularly spaced : few, some 2 per mm. but mostly above i mm. 

 apart : straight and direct, not nodose : very lax, cells coarse, 

 about size 5 : transparent and varying in colour : very dark red. 



Rings. Clear with lens. Boundary the loop or ring of lighter 

 red soft- tissue. Contour finely dentate. 



Ground-tissue. Abundant in concentric lines enclosing and 

 joining the few pores, size about Grade 7, cells round or com- 

 pressed (squarish) of a lighter red colour than the ground. 



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