Western myall

Western myall is a small tree up to 7 m tall with dark grey bark and a dense crown. It grows in the Goldfields and adjacent Nullarbor area, on deeper sandy soils and clays in the Goldfields, and on calcareous soils on the Nullarbor.

Wood description [more info]
Heartwood is chocolate-coloured to golden-brown, often with a golden fleck and pronounced ripple grain.

Wood density [more info]
Green density is about 1295 kg/m3, air-dry density about 1235 kg/m3, and basic density about 1080 kg/m3.

Shrinkage [more info]
Tangential and radial shrinkage are about 1.5 and 1.0 per cent respectively.

Workability [more info]
Goldfields craftsmen rank western myall as good for machinability, screwholding and gluing, and excellent for turning, boring, stability, sanding and finishing.

Durability [more info]
The wood is very durable, and presumably CSIRO Durability Class 1 when used for fencing.

Strength group and properties [more info]
Green and dry strength groups are (S1) and (SD1). The brackets indicate conservative provisional ratings based on the air-dry density. The more important strength properties based on strength groups are given in the table below.

Uses [more info]
Previous uses include fencing and firewood, but the species has considerable potential for use as specialty timber, including musical instruments.

Availability [more info]
Limited availability because of the scattered nature of the resource.