4 

 Timbers can be classified in different ways, e.g., according to — 



(1.) Fissility. — Some are fissile, such as stringybarks (K eugenioides), &c, 

 Mountain ash (B. Sieberiana), Victorian blackbutt (B. regnans), &c. 

 Others are short in the grain, such as many gums, snapping off like a 

 carrot ; while others are tough and interlocked, like boxes and ironbarks. 



(2.) Colour. — In a lecture delivered in 1891 before the Sydney Architectural 

 Association of New South Wales, I divided many of the Eucalyptus 

 timbers into pale hardwoods, subdividing them into three groups — 

 (a) Hard, interlocked ; (b) Fissile; (c) Inferior, such as Gums ; which is 

 a useful practical classification. In my "Notes on the Commercial 

 Timbers of New South Wales," (1895), I submitted the classification — 

 1. Ironbarks. 2. Pale hardwoods. 3. Red hardwoods. 



1. Gums. — These timbers are short in the grain ; dry to a brown or reddish 

 colour; crack radially in drying; have many gum- veins; and, as a rule, lack 

 durability. Their barks are smooth, and more or less ribbony. Examples — ■ 

 stellulata, coriacea, hcemastoma, vimiiiaUs, Guniili. They connect with the 

 "Boxes" (Bastard), and also with the smooth-barked members of the Jarrah group. 



2. Mallees. — Examples— oleosa, Behricma, incrassala. This is a group 

 based on geographical considerations. They are arid country species, and connect 

 the " Gums " and " Red Boxes." 



3. Ironbarks. — These are fully described in my " Notes on the Commercial 

 Timbers of New South Wales." They consist of— 



(a) True Ironbarks, viz. , paniculata, siderophloia, crebra, sideroxylon. 



(b) Bastard Ironbarks. — Timbers very similar to ironbarks, but the barks 



belonging to the "Box" group. They include Boormani and affinis. 

 Melanophloia, and, perhaps, microtheca connect the two groups. 



4. Boxes. — These are tough, interlocked timbers, usually with fibrous bai'k 

 on the trunk, and may be subdivided into — 



(a) Pale. — Examples— hemiphloia, melliodora, Bosistoana, Baueriana, popull- 

 folia, quadrangulata, Cambagei, goniocalyx, tesselaris, leucoaylon, cory- 

 nocalyx, globulus. 



(b) Bed. — Examples — bicolor, microtheca, polyanthema, odorala, fasciculosa. 



These two groups include some smooth barks or " Gums," but their timbers 

 are provisionally classified with the " Boxes." 



(c) Bastard. — Examples — Stuartiana, pulverulenta, Macartlmrl, aggregata. 

 The timber of (c) is inferior, and closely resembles that of the " Gums." 



