Mahogany, White

White mahogany is one of Australia's premium native hardwoods with a high degree of natural durability and strength, making it an ideal timber for a variety of structural, exterior and interior applications. White mahogany is the common name for four species that grow along the east coast of Australia, from mid-New South Wales to northern Queensland, with isolated pockets north of the Queensland tablelands. Sawn timbers from these species are readily available across Australia.

They have straight, slender trunks with rough, fibrous bark that is shed in strips, giving the trees their characteristic stringy appearance and resulting in the common local names of yellow or white stringybark.

The species varies in appearance but not in durability class or other properties. The heartwood is light brown to yellow brown in colour. The sapwood is usually creamy brown and is uniformly lighter than the heartwood. White mahogany wood has a slightly greasy feel, a characteristic that aids machining and boring.

It is termite resistant and the sapwood can be easily treated with preservatives. The heartwood is too dense to accept readily available commercial preservation processes.

The wood is used as a sawn timber in engineering applications such as wharf and bridge construction, railway sleepers, cross-arms and mining timbers. It is suitable for a range of building applications, such as posts and poles, framing, flooring, lining, decking and cladding. White mahogany is also used in the manufacture of veneer and plywood. Other applications include boatbuilding, coach and carriage building, and agricultural machinery.