Toona ciliata (toon).

Abstract The family Meliaceace contains some of the world's finest grade cabinet timbers. These include the Honduran mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), West Indian mahogany (S. mahogani), Ugandan mahogany (Entandrophragma sp.), Asian Chukrasia (Chukrasia tabularis) and the Australian red cedar or Indian Toon (T. ciliata). Timber of T. ciliata was exported from Australia to Calcutta, India, in 1795 just seven years after the first British settlement was established in Sydney, thus becoming Australia's first export. The harvesting of this species was very important to the economy of the early European settlement and the timber getters helped open up the coastal forests for later agricultural activities (Boland, 1997). The species was also arguably the first Australian plant species to have conservation measures placed upon it (Boland, 1997) when it was realised that the species was rapidly disappearing in areas near Sydney. In India, thirty years ago, timber of T. ciliata was said to be available in large quantities from Uttar Pradesh and in fair quantities from North Bengal and Assam (Anon, 1963). Timber is also available in small quantities from other areas; mainly from roadside trees and from trees on cultivated lands (Anon, 1963).