commercial applications, increasing its solubility and removing colour. The composition of marri kino is about two thirds tannins, and is unusual in being harvestable without felling the tree. Marri wood is used to make a variety of objects like doarks (sticks for knocking the tops off grass trees), (spears) and (digging sticks). Marri timber is increasingly featured in modern household furniture. The timber is honey coloured and has a unique vein structure. However, it is not used in construction as the wood structure exhibits complex faults. Trees growing on alluvial soils contain less kino, producing timber with a wider range of applications. The value of marri lacking gum veins was propounded by the state conservator of forest John Ednie Brown in 1897, with a recommendation they be used for packaging fruit, however, the 1922 commission found that while useful for that purpose and others, the irregular faults reduced its utility. This view was reaffirmed by the state conservator in 1957, although the usefulness and high amount of tannin in marri kino was also noted. The wood's strength was utilised in the nineteenth century for handles, spokes and other implements, and applications in building construction, but found to deteriorate when used below ground. While the timber is unsuitable for permanent construction, the availability of the timber in the mid twentieth century saw it recommended by the Forestry Department in lower cost housing and buildings, as scantling, in boat building, and in the construction of rolling stock for railways. The timber failed testing for use as railway sleepers. The blossoms from the marri can be used as a source of sugary syrup, which can be sucked directly from the flower or can be dipped into water to make a sweet drink. The colonial botanist James Drummond noted the preparation of this drink, called numbit, in 1843. These blossoms also attract (bees) and honey can be found in the hollows of eucalyptus branches. These trees also attract birds which nest in the hollows, in which eggs can be found to eat. The large and distinctive fruit produced by the tree is featured in the literature of May Gibbs, whose childhood in Western Australia arguably influenced her series on 'Gumnut babies'. The Noongar poet Jack Davis celebrated the importance of marri in his poem 'The Red Gum and I'. Use in horticulture The tree is able to be cultivated by sowing seeds directly at