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Timber. —The Ironbarks form such a natural group that I think it will he 
best to give a preliminary account of them, and then a few notes on the species 
under present consideration. 
AVe have four ironbarks, three of them of especial value. Timbers of this 
class arc so important that it will be interesting to discriminate them. There is a 
good deal of confusion in regard to the local names given to ironbarks, and the 
names I suggest for the four species seem to me the least objectionable. At the 
same time, the name “Narrow-leaved Ironbark” and “Broad-leaved Ironbark” are 
too cumbersome for ordinary use, and certainly for persons outside the State. It 
is probable that ironbark for the export trade will go forward under two names only, 
viz., Grey Ironbark and Red Ironbark, the first being the White or Grey Ironbark, 
and the second including both the Narrow and Broad leaved Ironbarks, the timbers 
of which closely resemble each other. The fourth ironbark, whose botanical name 
is Eucalyptus sideroxylon, is mainly an interior species, and will seldom, if ever, be 
exported. Perhaps timber will go forward under the sing’e generic name of 
ironbark; if so, I wish to impress on friends at a distance that our various species 
of ironbark vary a good deal in colour, as a consignee may readily be confused if an 
ironbark be sent to him different in appearance to that to which he has been 
accustomed. 
Table of Ironbarks .—The following table brings out the principal points in 
ironbark trees and ironbark timbers, and may help to elucidate them:— 
White or She 
I ronbark 
(paniculata). 
Narrow-leaved 
Ironbark 
( crebra). 
Broad-leaved 
Ironbark 
(sidcrophloia). 
Red Ironbark 
{sideroxylon). 
Colour (darkens 
with age). 
Yery pale; pink 
when fresh. 
Medium 
Medium; a little 
darker than pre¬ 
ceding'. 
Very dark. 
Strength of timber 
Best 
Good 
Good 
Inferior. 
Bark 
Often pale-coloured, 
even grey. Fur¬ 
rows often anas¬ 
tomosing. 
Yery deeply fur¬ 
rowed, inferior in 
depth only (if at 
all) to sideroxylon. 
Often of a flaky 
character. 
Dark; deepest fur¬ 
rowed. 
Leaves 
Narrow and medium 
Y ery narrow 
Yery broad 
Medium ; foliage 
often sparse. 
Flowers ... 
White . 
White . 
White . 
Crimson; sometimes 
creamy. 
Fruits 
Small 
1 
Vcry small 
Rather large 
Large. 
IIoiv to tell Ironbark .—It is not very easy, in a few words, to give a definition 
of Ironbark. Of course, if the bark is available the thing is simple enough, for 
most of the barks arc characteristically furrowed and rugged. To describe it we 
must take note of a variety of circumstances. It is heavy (almost the heaviest of 
our hardwoods). It is hard, as may be readily seen if it be touched with a plane, 
or a nail be driven (or attempted to bo driven) into it. Its most characteristic 
property, however, is a certain “ gumminess ” in forking, which is well brought out 
