THE TIMBERS OF COMMERCE 



No. 187. FOREST OAK. Casuarina torulosa. Ait. 

 (not Miq.) 

 Plate X. Fig. 90. 



Natural Order. Casuarineas. 



Synonyms. C. lugubris, Salisb. C. tenuissima, Sieber. 



Alternative Names. She-Oak, Beef-wood, Koondeba in 

 Queensland (5)." Australian Mahogany, Botany Bay Oak in 

 England. Gedraaid Beef -wood at the Cape of Good Hope (51). 

 Noo Loi and River Oak in New South Wales (12). Mountain 

 Oak (15). 



Sources of Supply. Queeasland, New South Wales and South 

 Australia. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 48J-53 lbs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 3, compare Blackthorn. Smell and 

 taste none. Burns well : embers glow in still air. Solution with 

 water or alcohol colourless. 



Grain. Fine, dense and even. Surface bright : the rays and 

 ground-tissue equally reflecting. 



Bark. " Corky " (5). 



Uses, etc. Cabinet-making : splits very easily with a clear 

 fracture : a very beautiful furniture wood. 



Authorities. Nordlinger (86), .vol. iii. p. 42. Boulger (12). 

 Ditto (15). Bailey (5), p. 133. Nilson (85), p. 42. 



Usually confused with Red Oak and other Casuarinas. 



Colour. Dark or brick red and light red in a striking network. 

 Sap-wood light brown, sharply defined from the heart. 



Anatomical Characters. Transverse section : — 



Pores. Readily visible, medium, size 3 : very variable, in- 

 creasing in size as the tree ages, irrespective of the annual fluctua- 

 tion : 30-55 per sq. mm. : dendritic : isolated pores occasionally 

 appearing in the midst of a ray : groups of 1-4 loosely connected : 

 often with white contents. 



Rays. Of two sizes, the larger exceptionally prominent, very 

 broad, size 1, widening outwards, very long, only limited by the 

 bark, into which they project beyond the wood : often forking 

 outwards : few, 12-17 per inch : light red in the heart, light 

 brown in the sap : denser than the ground- tissue. The small rays 

 are extremely fine and need microscope. 



Rings. Not traceable. 



Soft-tissue. In fine, weak, microscopic lines concentrically 

 connecting the rays : size 3-4 (ray scale) : a fine network with 

 the fine rays : also encircling the pores. 



Pith. Small, about 1 mm. in diameter, an elongated-oval in 

 shape. 



Radial Section. The ground is very much lighter and the rays 



214 



