Page 71 - Wood Review Dec 202 Full issue

The ‘she’ part of the name is claimed by some to be from the sound of the wind in the foliage, but an alternative view, which I think more likely to be correct, is that
the feminine epithet was used in a derogatory sense, indicating they were second-class oaks.
Most sheoaks are much harder than the woods the early colonists were accustomed to, and it seems the woodworking tools available in those early years were not of best quality (there were complaints to the colonial office from early governors regarding the inadequacy of tools supplied). Nevertheless, rose sheoak (A. torulosa) was used for various purposes, such as making roof shingles, where its easy splitting properties would have been appreciated. Some rose sheoak was used for furniture (mostly as veneers), but its use seems to have waned through the 1800s, no doubt due to far more tractable woods becoming readily available as the rainforests further north were exploited. By the beginning of the 20th century, the most common use of casuarinas was for firewood.
Not for sale
Most casuarinas are small trees or shrubs, often of ‘poor form’ which translates as not good for milling. Only a
few species grow to medium sized trees with a regular, straight bole. River oak (A. cunninghamiana) is the largest
1. The needles of casuarinas are
really branchlets, with the leaves reduced to whorls of tiny ‘teeth’.
2. The cones of drooping sheoak (A. vertillata), can be up to 50mm long.
3. Endgrain views, left to right: bull
oak, hairy oak, rose and river sheoaks.
TIMBER
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