Damson

• Semi-deciduous tree.
• Grows to 30m high with a spread of 5m.
• Stem grows to 1m diameter.
• Stem is typically buttressed, well-formed and branching.
• Bark is black or grey, tessellated, and fissured.
• Crown is symmetrical.

• Widespread across tropical Australia.
• Occurs from Rockhampton to Cape York, around the Gulf of Carpentaria, across to the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Colour

• Heartwood is pale gold to yellowish brown.
• Sapwood is yellow but not always distinct.

Grain

• Sometimes interlocked.

• Construction: house framing, flooring, linings, mouldings, scantling.
• Decorative: interior joinery, cabinet making.
• Others: serviette rings, paper weights, rulers, walking sticks.

• Density: 640kg/m³ at 12% moisture content; about 1.6m³ of seasoned sawn timber per tonne.
• Strength groups: (S5) unseasoned, (SD6) seasoned.
• Stress grades: F5, F7, F8, F11 (unseasoned); F7, F8, F11, F14 (seasoned) when visually stress graded according to AS 2082—2000: Timber—Hardwood—Visually stress-graded for structural purposes.
• Joint groups: J3 unseasoned, JD3 seasoned.
• Shrinkage to 12% MC: about 6.0% (tangential), 3 to 4% (radial).
• Unit shrinkage: not available.
• Durability above-ground: Class 4 (life expectancy less than 7 years).
• Durability-in-ground: Class 4 (life expectancy less than 5 years).
• Lyctine susceptibility: untreated sapwood susceptible to lyctine borer attack.
• Termite resistance: not resistant.
• Preservation: sapwood impregnates with preservative.
• Seasoning: seasons well.
• Hardness: firm (rated 4 on a 6-class scale) to indent and work with hand tools.
• Machining: relatively easy to work.
• Fixing: no difficulty using standard fittings and fastenings.
• Gluing: satisfactorily bonds using standard procedures.
• Finishing: readily accepts paint, stain and polish.

General characteristics

• Sapwood: not obviously different from heartwood.
• Heartwood: pale gold to yellow-brown.
• Texture: coarse and uniform, grain very interlocked.

Wood structure

• Vessels: large, clearly visible to the naked eye, solitary and radial groups of 2–3, numerous and uniform distribution; lacks deposits; prominent vessel lines.
• Parenchyma (soft tissue): vasicentric, aliform and confluent.
• Rays: fine.

Other features

• Burning splinter test: wood burns, with lots of smoke, and exudes resin, to a grey-white ash with black streaks.

• Boland, DJ, Brooker, MIH, Chippendale, GM, Hall, N, Hyland, BPM, Johnston, RD, Kleinig, DA and Turner, JD 2006, Forest trees of Australia, 5th ed., CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood Australia.
• Bootle, K 2005, Wood in Australia: Types, properties and uses, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, Sydney.
• Ilic, J 1991, CSIRO atlas of hardwoods, Crawford House Press, Bathurst, Australia.
• Queensland Government, DAF 2018, Construction timbers in Queensland: Properties and specifications for satisfactory performance of construction timbers in Queensland. Class 1 and Class 10 buildings, Books 1 & 2, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane.
• Standards Australia, 2000, AS 2082—2000: Timber—Hardwood—Visually stress-graded for structural purposes, Standards Australia International, Strathfield, NSW.