87 
Vernacular Name. —I know of none in Australia. I believe it to form 
part of the timber sold as “ Bolly Gum,” but of this I am not quite sure. 
Commonly known as “ Wild Cinnamon,” and like it in foliage, but the 
leaves have scarcely any scent or flavour. (Trimen, Handbook Flora Ceylon.) 
Synonyms. —This tree has a complicated synonymy, which those interested 
can see on reference to Hooker’s Flora of British India. 
Fruits. —An oil is obtained from the fruit, and used to burn. (Gamble, 
Manual of Indian Timbers.) 
Timber. —A pale-coloured, fissile, moderately tough timber, with a faint 
aromatic odour. It is comparatively light in weight, and is of the class of timber 
known as “ Bolly Gum.” 
It is not confined to Australia, and since we know so little about it, the 
experience of other countries may be helpful. 
A small evergreen tree. Bark thick, smooth, grey. Wood light bjown to yellow, moderately 
hard, even-grained. Pores small, often subdivided, evenly distributed. Medullary rays tine, numerous. 
(Gamble’s Manual of Indian Timbers , ed. 2, p. 573.) 
Wood rather light, moderately hard, even-grained, pale orange; used in house-building. (Trimen, 
Handbook of the Flora of Ceylon.) 
Its wood is in use for house-building purposes, planks, rafters, &c. ; it is yellowish in colour, 
straight-grained and tough, and when fresh emits an odour of Sweet Briar. (Beddome’s Flora Sylvatica 
for Southern India.) 
It is undoubtedly a useful softwood, and when the softwoods of our brushes 
are properly recognised by the timber-getter, scores of them which are not at 
present utilised will become regular articles of commerce. In the time to come it 
will be found that the Controller of Forests will cut down many brush timbers not 
at present marketable because of the present small supply, and will stack the 
timber and classify it in proper depots. At present the great difficulty is in 
satisfying repeat orders for so many of our lesser known timbers. 
If great demand sets in for our brush timbers, which, in my view, is as 
certain as that night follows the day, steps must be taken to see that the brushes 
are not wiped out of existence, by judicious reservations and replantings. Some 
reservations will be made purely for scenic areas; these and others will be made 
for conservation of particular species. 
In this connection I would like to emphasise a couple of passages contained 
in the 2nd edition (1904) of my “Notes on the Commercial Timbers of New South 
Wales.” 
SUPPLY OF SEASONED COLONIAL TIMBERS, TRUE TO NAME. 
As a consistent advocate for many years of the use of colonial timbers, I have become familiar with 
the oft-repeated objection, “What is the good of advocating the use of colonial timbers when we rarely can 
buy any already seasoned!” It is a fact that very few varieties of seasoned colonial timbers are kept in stock 
by our timber merchants. Timber merchants are like other tradesmen in endeavouring to keep a stock of 
any article that will sell, but we cannot expect them to run their business on sentiment; in other words, 
