Botanical name: Callitris glauca.

Distribution: Narrung is a small to medium sized non-rainforest softwood, widely distributed across Australia’s dry interior but mainly located in New South Wales and Queensland.

Colour: The heartwood is variegated light yellow to dark brown usually with many small dark knots. The sapwood is pale yellow and relatively wide. Demarcation between sapwood and heartwood is pronounced and generally wavy.

The timber: Narrung has a residual odour of Cypress which is quite pleasant. It is one of the few timbers in the world to be insect resistant, including termites and it also has a strong resistance to fungal attack. The knots are tight and very hard.

Mechanical properties: In kiln dried timber there is a tendency to brittleness and it is not suitable for steam bending. Kiln dry density of approx. 600kgs/m³ (37lb/ft³).

Working properties: It is moderately hard to work with hand tools (considering it is a softwood) giving a medium resistance to cutting and a moderate blunting to tools. Machine working results in a fine finish. Pre drilling for nails and screws is necessary to avoid splitting. Gluing presents few problems despite the oily feel of the timber. Narrung can be worked to a very high polish and takes most finishes well although finishes tend to mask the odour of the timber.

Uses: Very widely used for flooring and one of Australia’s top export timbers. Also used for playground equipment, cladding, exposed structural beams, furniture, fencing and decking.

Availability: Plentiful.