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Timber .—It is of a pale, brown colour, redder when fresh, drying to an oak- 
brown. A specimen of “ Salt-water Swamp Oak,” collected by the late Sir William 
Macartliur, is so light, and has so little figure, that a second glance is necessary to 
he quite sure that it is Casuarina wood at all. Sir William says of it: “Tall-growing; 
found only near the margin of salt water. Wood not much valued.” 
The timber is strong and tough, and is used for staves, shingles, &c., also for 
rails, but not for posts. It is beautifully marked, close in the grain, and rather 
tough ; brittle. It might be useful for cabinet work. 
A specimen from Gosford (Swamp Oak) is tough and difficult to dress. The 
heart-wood is of a purple colour. 
It is used at Cooranbong for bullock-yokes, and at Taree for chisel-handles 
and walking-sticks. 
Mr. District Forester Rotton, of Nowra, reports :— 
The heart (red wood) of this tree makes the very best caulking mallets for shipbuilding purposes. 
It is also used for bullock-yokes, and handles of every description. The saplings are suitable, and have 
been proved to be excellent and very durable for rafters to buildings. 
On part of the Berry Estate they have been used, and after over fifty years’ use are as sound as the 
day when they were cut. This timber must be kept dry, and not exposed to the influence of the weather. 
Size. —This is a rather erect tree, usually not much above 50 feet high, and 
with a trunk diameter of 2 feet. It has not a deeply furrowed, but a more or less 
cracked or flaky bark. 
Habitat. —In view of the confusion that I have pointed out as regards other 
species, and particularly C. lepidophloia, it is very desirable that reputed localities 
for this species should be revised. 
In coastal New South Wales and Queensland, where, indeed, it is sometimes 
known as “ Coast Swamp Oak,” it is usually found in sandy and in low, black- 
mould, swampy places, and tidal creeks, sometimes growing in salt water. 
In Eastern Australia I have seen it from the Shoalhaven River, Ncav South 
Wales, (in the south) to Rockhampton, Queensland (in the north), and I should be 
very glad if observers would look out for it beyond those limits. 
It does not always grow on flats near the water’s edge. For example, the 
clump of She Oaks, in a dry situation, near Governor Bourke’s Statue, in the Outer 
Domain, at Sydney, was not planted by the hand of man, and it is in a high and dry 
situation, many feet above high-water mark. The Sydney Botanic Gardens contains 
natural clumps of this species, which is still abundant in Port Jackson, and must 
have been very plentiful there at one time. 
As regards Victoria, Mueller (“ Key to the System of Victorian Plants,” 
ii, 12) records it from the north-west of that State only. All the specimens I have 
seen from the north-west are C. lepidophloia, but I think collectors will probably 
find it near the sea in Eastern Victoria. 
