Maple, Queensland

The attractive Queensland maple has long been appreciated as a shade tree for Australian parks and gardens and also for its striking pink wood, which adorns many heritage homes and distinctive wood pieces. It flourishes in the northern Queensland rainforests between Townsville and the Windsor Tableland. With these areas now heritage protected, maple wood is harder to source, although it is still prized for use in furniture and fixtures.

The lustrous sheen of the pink to brownish pink heartwood makes for a distinctive tree. Historically, it was widely used for aeroplane propellers, coachwork, carriages, and boats. It was also popular for picture frames, and for musical instruments components such as guitar necks and piano parts. 

Queensland maple is not susceptible to lyctid borer attack. Termites can be a challenge and there is also the threat of attack by an insect that calls this distinctive species home. The insect’s destruction to the living tree can leave areas of dark coloured soft tissue, giving dressed surfaces a dimpled appearance – a feature rarely seen in the pretty wood sought for furniture or high-value decorative uses. Such pieces are enhanced by a distinctive grain that is somewhat interlocked and often wavy or curly, but with a medium and uniform texture. On quarter sawn boards, the maple exhibits water wave, rib and birdseye figures.

The living maple does not record its age with growth rings. It appears as a medium-sized tree of up to 40 metres in height and 2.5 metres in stem diameter. The trunk is usually well formed, circular in cross-section and not buttressed. The bark, which is approximately 12mm thick, is grey to brown. It has fairly distinct longitudinal fissures. In older trees these fissures are not so marked owing to a tendency to scaliness. The maple has a medium durability.