WA Hardwoods and Our Environment

Former General Manager, Forest Products Commission, Western Australia

Australia is home to many of the world’s most beautiful hardwoods, while Western Australia is host to some of the nation’s best. Jarrah is one of the finest and well-known tree species for use in timber products and manufacturing. The beautiful finish, hardness and durability of Jarrah has made it a popular choice for home and leisure use, giving rise to an important domestic and export industry.To ensure that our children, and theirs, can enjoy the beauty of Jarrah and other native hardwoods the Western Australian Government has reserved all old growth forests, established a comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) forest reserve system, and given statutory effect to the principles of ecologically sustainable forest management (EFSM). The supply of resource to the timber and manufacturing industries is now supplied from regrowth forests.Seeing our regrowth native timbers shaped into delightful pieces of furniture by gifted craftsmen and artisans is a truly satisfying experience.

Jarrah is a medium to tall tree growing up to 50 metres in height and 2 metres in diameter in the south-western corner of Western Australia. It is a unique Australian hardwood renowned for its versatility durability and strength.

Jarrah is very resilient in harsh conditions partly as a result of its unique root system. A young jarrah seedling develops a woody swelling (lignotuber) at ground level which provides a nutrient store and contains many dormant buds. If a jarrah seedling is damaged by fire or grazing by wild animals, it can quickly reshoot from the lignotuber. In the jarrah forest it is common for a pool of lignotubers to be lying dormant on the forest floor awaiting their chance to grow into trees.

Jarrah timbers reflect the hues of the Western Australian landscape. The heartwood varies in colour from rich reds to browns. The texture of the timber is moderately coarse and even-textured grain, although some interlocked, wavy grain may feature, creating interesting fiddle-back figure. This makes it an appealing architectural and design material.

Marri is a distinctive bloodwood native to Western Australia and is widespread in the South West scattered in amongst the jarrah and karri forests.

Marri is a medium to tall tree growing up to 40 metres in height. It readily regenerates from either seed or lignotubers.

It is commonly known as ‘red gum’ due to the gum (or kino) that occurs extensively throughout the wood. This contrasts beautifully with the yellow to pale brown heartwood, while the 40mm wide sapwood is noticeably paler and often tending to white. Marri has a rather coarse but even texture with slightly interlocked grain. Gum veins are common.

 WA blackbutt has the common name ‘yarri’. The name came about due to the tree’s appearance after bushfire, whereby the buttress – or butt – was significantly darkened.

WA blackbutt is usually a tall tree up to 45 m in height, with diameter at breast height to 1.8m and a relatively large straight bole.

It has a natural distribution that coincides closely with that of jarrah (E. marginata), from near Perth in the north to Albany on the south coast.

The heartwood ranges from golden yellow to pale brown, although occasionally a slight pinkish colour may be present. Blackbutt has an even texture and generally straight grain making it appealing for interior use applications.