Recycled Blackbutt

AUSTRALIAN NATIVE HARDWOODS

Timber Product Names

Product Names are a convention employed by a producer of flooring or furniture board to describe a group or mixture of species. It is also employed by several producers in a region, or by the industry as a whole. The most well-known Timber Product Names are Tasmanian Oak and Victorian Ash. 

The convention allows producers to supply a mix of species which co-occur in a forest region and bear a strong tonal, grain and colour similarity to each other. They are never a mix of disparate species. Often the woods can be difficult to distinguish. Tasmanian Oak contains Messmate, Mountain Ash, Alpine Ash and Manna Gum in no regulated proportion.

How can you tell if a timber name is a Timber Product Name? The clue lies in the word groups. If the name contains a geographic, regional or place name, plus, maybe, an exotic timber reference (especially European species), then it is likely to be a Timber Product Name. The following names are of this ilk:

Gippsland Oak
Wormy Chestnut
Blue Ridge Stringybark
Southern Beech

These different sounding Product Names describe an identical or very similar appearance-grade timber product containing various Stringybarks, Messmate, Brown Barrel and Silvertop Ash.

Swan River Reds are Jarrah and Karri mixed - both red timbers that occur in mixed or proximal stands and are harvested together.

Forest Reds North Coast hardwoods from coastal forests with similar appearance including Red Ironbark, Grey Gum, Bloodwood, Red Mahogany and sometimes, Sydney Blue Gum.

Northern Beech Brown Stringybarks and New England Blackbutt from Highland forests on the east coast of NSW.