Quantitative colour values of the heartwood of various australian species

Colour values (luminance, dominant wavelength, purity) were determined for the heartwood of 52 Australian tree species according to the I.C.I, colour measurement system (International Commission on Illumination 1931). Colour values from within the visible spectrum were derived from diffuse reflectance curves obtained with an automatic recording spectrophotometer for each uniformly-surfaced, tangential heartwood sample. The results indicate greater inter-specific and intra-specific variation of luminance and purity than of dominant wavelength, agreeing with data for other species (Gray 1961, Nelson 1968, Sullivan 1967b). The wide range of colour values for Australian species confirms quantitatively the visual observation that Australian species have a wide variety of heartwood colours.