Cypress, Murray Pine, Austrlian White Cypress

Callitris glaucophylla

Callitris glaucophylla (formally called C.glauca or C.columellaris) is the most common member of a group of Australian Conifers refered to as Cypress, this specie, White Cypress is the only member of the grouping commercially available.

Other common names are Cypress and Murray Pine.

Cypress Forests occur from the Riverina districts of New South Wales in the south through most of the mid west up into the southern central west of Queensland.

The trees usually grow to about 15 to 20 metres high with maximum log diameter approximatley 600mm although most are much smaller.

Heartwood colour ranges from a light yellowish-orange to brown with some very dark brown streaks. The occurance of numerous knots is a characteristic of the timber which provides a remarkably decorative figure on the exposed faces. The knots are usually very tight and do not readily fall out of the finished timber.

The heartwood of cypress is regarded as highly resistant to termite attack and very durable. The distinctive odour of the timber is attributed to the natural resins in the wood fibre which acts as repellent to the termites.The sapwood, like most timber species, however, does not have the same properties and is not termite resistant or durable.

In New South Wales over 90% of Cypress is harvested from natural regrowth forests which are Government controlled by State Forests of NSW. These state forests have been managed since the late 1800's and now provide a stainable harvest as well as maintaining the ecological balance to protect fauna and provide access by the general public.

Cypress has always been regarded as a multi-purpose building timber and since the banning of organochlorine it has become highly favoured for domestic framing.
Apart from its area of occurance, where it is used for most building and finishing components, Cypress is widely known as flooring, decking, panelling and weatherboards.
The natural high durabliltiy and hardness set it apart from exotic imported and plantation softwoods and make it ideal for these exposed or high wear applications.

 Timber Properties

Density(average)

800kg/m3 green

680kg/m3 dry

Durability Class 1

Strength Group

S5 green

SD6 dry

Hardness Rating

(average)

5.6kn green

6.5kn dry

Cypress t&g Flooring 1