Red Mallee trees (Eucalyptus socialis) grow mostly as shrubs and small trees in the semi arid regions of southwestern Australia. Mallees from the goldfield region are famous for their burl caps, that show finest figure and grain in combination with high density (ca. 1,25) and hardness. These trees produce a lot of burls growing on their stems, that can be cut off without harming the trees, that's why you will nearly always find burl caps from Australia. The burls mostly have very fine, flawless eye grain without the large resin pocket holes otherwise almost always typical of eucalyptus burl. The unusually intense hue ranges from pale red to truly fiery red, and the grain is on par with Amboina in its fineness. The wood is very fine-pored dense and hard, can be turned and worked well with sharp tools. Finely sanded surfaces become very smooth and can be polished to a beautiful sheen. Tiny holes, as is common with all eucalyptus wood, can easily be filled with a drop of super glue!
