Casuarina spp.

Casuarina

Family: Casuarinaceae

Other Common Names: She-Oak (Australia), Aru (Sabah), Ru (Malaya), Surra, Serva (India), Agoho (Philippines), Velau (Fiji islands), Tjemara (Indonesia), Bois de fer de riviere (New Caledonia).

Distribution: Malay Peninsula, Burma, Australia, Philippines, and islands of the Pacific. Widely cultivated throughout the tropics. C. equisetifolia particularly favored along seashores.

The Tree: A rapidly growing tree that may reach a height of 120 to 150 ft with trunk diameters up to 24 in. Bole is often fluted, straight, and cylindrical.

The Wood:

General Characteristics: Heartwood light red to reddish brown, becoming darker in older trees; sapwood buff colored, usually distinct from heartwood. Texture fine, grain straight to interlocked; luster is low; without distinctive odor or taste Species with wide rays have an attractive figure when quartered.

Weight: Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.83; air-dry density 64 pcf.

Mechanical Properties: (First set of data based on the 2-in. standard; the second set on the 2-cm standard.)

Moisture content Bending strength Modulus of elasticity Maximum crushing strength

(%) (Psi) (1,000 psi) (Psi)

Green (34) 14,300 1,890 6,600

12% 25,000 3,310 11,000

12% (51) 21,400 1,830 12,100

Janka side hardness 1,980 lb for green material and 3,200 lb for dry. Amsler toughness 182 in.-lb at 12% moisture content (2-cm specimen).

Drying and Shrinkage: The wood dries at a moderate rate but usually with considerable warp and checking. Kiln schedule T2-C2 may be suitable for 4/4 stock. Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial 6.4%; tangential 11.7%; volumetric 17.6%.

Working Properties: Saws with difficulty and also difficult to work with hand and machine tools because of the high density, finishes smoothly.

Durability: Heartwood is generally reported as nondurable. In Puerto Rico the wood is rated as susceptible to dry-wood termites; but in the Philippines, it is rated as resistant.

Preservation: Sapwood is readily treated; heartwood absorption is irregular and only 5 pcf when treated by a full-cell schedule.

Uses: Construction under cover, tool handles, posts and poles (treated), charcoal, tests in India indicate the wood is suitable for chemical and semichemical pulps.

Additional Reading: (9), (34), (47), (51)

M 150 282-3Logs are delivered to a sawmill in southern Nigeria. African mahogany

(mostly Khaya ivorensis) is in high demand on overseas markets. Export of logs fro

this region, as well as from most other tropical areas, is being restricted.

M 150 282-2Band mills in Ghana are designed to handle logs 5 feet and more in

diameter. Obeche or Wawa (Triplochiton scleroxylon) logs yield lumber favored for

joinery and millwork.

M 150 273-14In many areas of the tropics, fast-growing species are being introduced

future supplies of fuel wood and industrial wood. Batai (Albizia falcataria) is

a favored plantation species in the Philipines.