Botanical name: Eucalyptus diversicolor

Distribution: Limited to the South Western corner of Western Australia. One of the tallest of the Australian hardwoods it can attain 85m (280ft) with diameters up to 3.3m(11ft).

Colour: Reddish brown, paler than Jarrah but maturing to a more uniform brown.

The timber: The grain is often interlocked with some wavy feature and a somewhat coarse but even texture. A very strong and heavy timber.

Mechanical properties: High bending and crushing strengths and high resistance to shock loads. Widely used outside Australia in marine applications and sea defence work. Kiln dry density of 850kgs/m³ (53lb/ft³).

Working properties: Difficult to work with hand tools and machine tools which need to have cutter angles reduced to 15 degrees. Pre drilling recommended to avoid splitting during nailing or screwing. Karri can be glued, stained and polished satisfactorily.

Uses: Flooring, furniture, decking, marine construction, structural applications and panelling. It is available as a veneer.

Availability: Plentiful.