41 
GENERAL NOTE ON THE IRONBARKS. 
near the ground readily sprout again, and the species is now under systematic 
cultivation as a yielder of electric wire poles. Determination of the species is 
usually easy. The dead bark persists on stem and large branches, being at first 
flaky and laminated, and becoming as the tree gains age coarse and hard with 
deep cracks and wide ridges and dark in colour. Leaves in the juvenile stage 
very large, sometimes measuring 7in. in length by 4Min. in width; those of the 
adult tree up to 6in. long by tin. to 1 Min. wide, coarsely veined and of about the 
same green on the two surfaces. Umbel with flowers up to 6 or more in number; 
stalk 94in., stalklets Min.; lid of hud horn-shaped Min. or more long; anthers 
small, roundish with parallel openings. Ripe seed-cup Min. to 9sin. deep by 5/16in. 
wide, not contracted towards orifice; valves usually 4, showing above rim when 
open. Mature wood dark-coloured with tinge of red, dense in texture, strong, and 
very resistant to decay in the most trying situations, especially in demand for 
railway sleepers and electric wire poles. 
CULTIVATION IN NEW ZEALAND. 
A few specimens of this species were doing well in the railway reserve at 
Mount Albert when the plantation there was cut down; others have been noted 
near Whangarei, and one in Hawke’s Ray. The experiments encourage further 
tests in warm localities, hut are insufficient to warrant extensive planting. Seed 
should he obtained from competently approved trees in cooler parts of the habitat 
in New South Wales. 
It may encourage those who are trying to acclimatize the Ironharks in New 
Zealand to quote here Maiden’s description and estimate of their timber. 
Horn 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 are character¬ 
istically 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 be driven) into it. Its most characteristic 
property, however, is a certain “gumminess” in working, which is well brought out under the plane, 
and its horny texture. The result is that, when planed, ironbark shows the appearance of more or less 
parallel striae, or lines of close textured wood, strongly resembling horn, while between these the 
wood has a more open grain, showing narrow pits which may be seen, even by the naked eye, to be 
filled by a substance of a resinous texture. In some specimens it is not easy, however, to make out 
these lines of horny-textured wood, but the resin-pits appear to be always present. Ironbark is 
more or less curlv in the grain, consequently it often gives trouble to plane to a perfectly smooth 
surface. If a blunt tool be used the ironbark tears in fairly regular blotches, while to get a perfectly 
smooth surface the wood often requires to be traversed with the plane, or even to be gone over with 
the steel scraper. Its hardness and weight often preclude it from use, perhaps an advantage, as 
otherwise the consumption of this timber would be inordinate. 
Principal uses .—Ironbark is the king of New South Wales hardwoods, in fact it is not excelled 
in any part of the continent for combined strength and durability. It is extensively used in bridge 
construction, for railway sleepers, for posts, for naves, spokes, shafts, and framing, by the waggon 
and carriage builder; for large beams in buildings, particularly in stores for heavy goods; in a word, 
wherever great strength is required. For such purposes as railway-sleepers, it will last an indefinite 
period, and in many cases has to be taken up, not because it shows signs of decay from exposure on 
the permanent-way, or disintegration, because of the vibration to which it has been subjected, bu 
because holes have been made in the sleeper by the renewal of bolts and spikes. I have speci¬ 
mens of sleepers which have borne the heaviest traffic of the main line, near Sydney, for twenty- 
five years, and which are as sound as the day they were laid. 
Forest Flora of New South Wales, Vol. I., 176. 
