Entertainment for Markus

[DarwinStrings]

Or anyone else who cares to have a guess. This Aussie is not commercially available but it's famous unrelated common Asian cousin was, to the point of over harvest yet it is still used commercially today, not for its wood so much though and you will find bits of it under the ocean. If anyone can get this without another hint then you can have that set of gold 381 tuners I have up in the buy section (if I can't sell it may as well give it away)

Jim

Markus.JPG (92.49 KiB) Viewed 21253 times

[curly]

As a true wood geek , such a challenge is a red flag to a bull .
Alas I have no definite answer . The common asian cousin that would seem to closest fit the description would be Teak ; Tectona grandis but it's Australian cousins in the family Verbenaceae don't look like your sample . They include things like White Beech and Premna lignum vitae . What your sample looks most like is a a Meliaceae or mahogany family , sort of like a nice quartered bit of Toona citiala ; Aus Red cedar or one of the Dysoxylum mahoganies .
The other thing it looks a bit like is one of the Terminalias , common in Asia for sure .
Hmmm , underwater . Pilings , boat planking ......
Ah well , spose I best stand aside and see if anyone has a definite answer . For me to go again I'd need a weight .
Good challenge .
Pete

[nutsdan]

looks like lancewood.

[DarwinStrings]

Sorry I don't have a weight (that bit is termite piped so can't measure it till I saw it) I reckon it would sink or come close to sinking though. The annual rings are on average less than a millimetre apart. The clue is a bit cryptic.

Jim

Good Guess Dan, a little more stripe than I have seen in the lancewood up here but close, sort of.

[jeffhigh]

sandalwood?

[DarwinStrings]

Close again sort of, but no prize Jeff.

Jim

[Bruce McC]

Jim your clue is too cryptic and profound for me,
how can the Asian cousin be a cousin if it is unrelated?

[jeffhigh]

ironwood?

[DarwinStrings]

Bruce maybe think about the words I used, one is more of a key. I have people in my life that I always called Aunty and Uncle, their kids would be cousins but they were never blood relations just close friends of my parents. I don't want to give another clue yet so that is the best I can expand on that.

Jeff that's commercially available and would be tooo easy.

Jim

[Adrian Cooper]

turpentine ??

[curly]

Looks a bit like Pegunny , otherwise known as Red Bauhinia or Qld Ebony .
Don't know about this related or not related business . In the language of botany a plant is related or not . Distant cousin would be another way of saying same family , not necessarily same Genus . I wont go on , I might take this business pretty seriously but have to recognise not everyone does . That and I'd look like a sore looser .
Pete

[DarwinStrings]

Yep Curly it is a bit confusing. Okay try replacing the word "cousin" with the word "twin". Still cryptic but much more of a clue really.

Jim

[Bruce McC]

Come on Jim, if it is going to be a twin is it still unrelated?

[DarwinStrings]

Yep Bruce still unrelated, well they are both trees so a bit related but not same Genus or Species. I doubt anyone would get this one from the pic, it is not something you see ever really. The Asian one I am referring to was my best clue as it is quite useful but its not the wood people are after.

Jim

[charangohabsburg]

and you will find bits of it under the ocean.

To know which ocean you mean could be helpful or meaningless, I don't know.

In any case, and although I have no idea how it looks like, Ivorywood (Siphonodon australis) would at least comply with the "close to extinction harvested twin" - condition.

Great entertainment Jim, thank you!

Edit:
Aw, come on, and now you say the "twin" is a tree, not an elephant!

[DarwinStrings]

Fancy seeing you here Markus. Okay big clue, some of you mob might find part of the Asian twin in your mouth.

Jim

[Bruce McC]

Calantas

[hepikohetaniwha]

Endiandra?

[charangohabsburg]

Fancy seeing you here Markus.

Well, it was you who said it was cryptic!

[DarwinStrings]

. The family of the Asian twin is Sapotacea the family of my bit is Euphorbiaceae. I will end up with a bit of the Asian twin in my mouth for the first time in a few weeks.

Jim

Too many clues for the Gotoh's and Eric (downunder) just bought them anyway.

[charangohabsburg]

Are you going to produce chewing gum?

[DarwinStrings]

No but I will be able to chew it.

Jim

[curly]

Ah well , not without extra clues .
Your timber is Excoecaria parvifolia , common name Gutta Percha tree . The Asian cousin being a Palaquium " true" Gutta Percha .
Not that I know shit about either , mind . I just have the books for the region .
A bit of a correction though , just becuace they are both trees doesn't mean they are related . The teak tree is more closely related to a cucumber than a gum tree . For that matter a blackwood is more closely related to a snow pea than a gum tree . Trees of different families tree have arrived at the form of a tree independently . Convergent evolution .
But there you go . I enjoyed that .
Pete

[Bruce McC]

Why didn't you just come out and say you're having root canal therapy?

[DarwinStrings]

Nice one Pete. The Asian Gutta Percha was used for the early insulation on under sea communication cables and it is the stuff they do your root canals with. The Aussie Gutta Percha is lovely stuff with a sweet fragrance that just keeps going and it can get to a reasonable size. A bit of a correction of your correction though, they are a bit related in that they are "associated" just by both being trees so fit that description . Nice bit of info about the cucumber and the pea, now I'll be thinking about wood when I eat a salad.

Well Bruce I am a bit embarrassed that I let a tooth get to that point in the first place.

Thanks for having a go.

Jim