BroomBush

    (Jacksonia scoparia)

Also known as: Dogwood

Broombush is difficult to spot when it's not flowering as it looks more like a dead shrub with it's spindly, scale-like leaves. It is supposed to grow to around 4 metres high but I have only seen it to around 2 metres on the Highlands like the example pictured here.

Very impressive when flowering with masses of bright yellow pea-like flowers.

Radial shrinkage of the timber is severe which makes it difficult to recover anything much from such small trunks. A very fine medullary ray is just visible which shows as tiny black specs across the quartersawn sections and looks quite nice. The timber is fairly light in weight, is easy to machine and sand and absorbs finish readily. The timber smells of grandma's musty old cupboards - not nice but bearable!

Cutting 4 'staves' to create the blank for this toothpick dispenser seemed to be the best way to get some use out of such a small sample. The top and base are turned from Gidgee, as is the toothpick 'cup', which proved to be a poor choice - way too heavy and even 4 magnets have trouble holding it up when full of toothpicks.

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