Wood collections in Australia: A history of expansion and retraction

The history, size and status of each of Australia's 12 public wood collections, or 'xylaria', are reviewed in light of the uncertain future of most of them. Their history is traced from the colonial era to the present. Australian colonies sent wood samples to Britain and international exhibitions from early in the nineteenth century to promote their timber exports. In the 1880s Queensland and New South Wales started the first two scientific reference collections of wood, other states followed, and in the 1920s the Commonwealth started two large national collections. The collections were used to develop classification systems for identifying samples of wood in the absence of botanical specimens. There are currently 12 collections held by public institutions, of which the largest, with 47 000 specimens, is held by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Their expansion was followed by gradual retractions of government funding, staff and interest over the last 30 years. Ten of the 12 collections are now considered to be secure, six are in institutions that can conserve them, and only two are in use. Consolidation of the national collections under a professional curator is needed.