Common across the Central Highlands, Silver-leaved Ironbark grows to
about 20 metres tall with trunks to about 600mm diameter but a lot of that
is the thick, tough bark. The tree doesn't seem to care about soil types,
growing anywhere at all across the Highlands.
It is often the only species growing on some poor country as pictured right.
Flowering ranges from December to February and the tree produces a good
honey - probably about all it's good for!
Silver-leaved Ironbark timber is absolutely horrible to work with! It's
heavy, hard, abrasive, dusty, splintery and mostly full of cracks. The only
thing it does well is take a nice finish!
It is often used for fencing and rough construction because of it's
durability and adundance.
The
bowl at left was turned while the wood was still green as can be seen by the
distortion and some surprisingly minor checking.
The pencil pot at right was turned from well-cured timber showing the figure
the tree is known for.
