Fern with wood background

Different types of Australian wood

There are many kinds of Australian wood available on the market.  These can be used for things like floorboards, shelving units, storage solutions, beds and plenty more. It’s important to know what type of wood you are dealing with so that you know how best to treat it. For example, you wouldn’t want to use a Merbau decking stain on any outdoor wooden surfaces. In which case, you actually should be looking for some specific wood stain for outdoor furniture. So make sure you know your stuff!

Here is a list of the Australian wood you may not have even known existed:

Australian Beech

This is a type of wood that also goes by the name Tasmania Myrtle or Myrtle Beech. Australian Beech grows in the Eastern parts of Victoria. It doesn’t have a relationship with European Myrtle; the timber workers encountered the tree within that region. The name was gained due to the similarities in the characteristics.

Blackbutt

This type of wood is one of the most important for the country, as Blackbutt wood is a food source for koala bears. And we sure want to protect them, don’t we! It also provides us with high-quality timber that is grown relatively quickly and is easy to regenerate.

Brushbox

Brushbox can also be referred to as the Vinegar Tree, Pink Box, Brisbane Box, Box Scrub or Queensland Box. The Brush Box is located throughout Eastern Australia grown as a city tree. The brush box can be found growing naturally in Queensland and around the NSW area.

Tree lumber wood

Forest Reds

This is a category of wood that is sourced from the specific types of trees. Forest Reds are most often sourced from the red river gum tree, the eucalyptus-type that is loved for its lush red colour and durability.

Grey Ironbark

The grey ironbark is common among the Eastern NSW area. This wood also goes by the name of white ironbark or just plain ironbark. The wood has a dark trunk and has furrowed bark. The tree has an average of twenty to thirty metres in height.

Jarrah

Jarrah is everywhere among the southwestern areas of WA. It features stringybark that can shed in vertical, long strips that have an average maximum height of around 40 metres. The jarrah tree is known for giving homes to wildlife and insects, especially bees.

Red Ironbark

This wood is a very resilient and a strong type that is close to its cousin, the grey ironbark. The tree is very hardy and grows well in desolate sandy soils.

Spotted Gum

The spotted gum is a straight trunked tall tree that got its name from the weathering pattern that is seen on the bark layers. This is a tree that can reach around 45 metres in height. There are, in fact, many reports of this type of tree reaching up to 45 metres in height, but they have been known to reach even as high as 90 metres. Although, this is a very rare occasion.

Stringybark

Stringybark is the collection of different species of the stringybark that can be found within the NT. The heights can vary although most will sit around the forty-five-metre range and have bark that is rough, tessellated and stringy.

Turpentine

This wood is native to Greenland and NSW. The Turpentine tree is not used for turpentine oil; it just has the same name as when the leaves are crushed the aroma resembles that of turpentine oil. The height of the tree can reach up to 60 metres and is happy growing in the heavier soils. The trunk diameter sits around 1.5 metres fully grown.

Victorian Ash

Victorian ash is also known as the Vic Ash. This is mixed with the mountain ash to create Tasmanian oak.