Family: Laurel (Lauraceae) Source: Queensland
Australian walnut has a simple, leathery leaf and a nut-shaped fruit.
The popularity of Circassian or English walnut, and of American Walnut, has led to a world-wide search for similar timbers. Australian walnut, also known as ‘Queensland walnut’, Orientalwood’ or ‘Australian laurel’, is one of the most suitable of these. It is not a true walnut botanically, since it belongs to the laurel family and bears irregular, oblong, leathery evergreen leaves, each being about 75mm long, rather like a laurel bush. Its fruit, however, is walnut-like, being a globe about 65mm across, bluish black in colour. The flowers are very small and are borne in open clusters.
Australian walnut grows in the sub-tropical forests along the coast of Queensland, as a tall tree up to 140 feet high, with a clear bole up to 80 feet, and a diameter of 10 feet. It has a pale brown sapwood, but this is seldom seen on imported timber. Freshly cut wood has an objectionable smell, which vanishes later.
The heartwood is a beautiful soft brown, suffused with pinkish overtones. Blackish-brown or even black streaks run lengthwise and mark the outer edges of the annual rings. It is heavier than English walnut and can be distinguished from it by its greater range of colouring and less distinct annual rings. It is not so easy to work but can be made to serve most of the purposes to which the northern walnuts are applied. It yields highly decorative veneer, and is popular as a surface finish for pianos, high-class furniture and cabinets. Some is used for joinery and panelling, and it proves a good timber for woodturning.
