I recently was in California and purchased several Australian burls at McBeath’s in Berkeley. This gimlet burl weighed about 60 pounds and is 24″ wide. Here is a description I read for a related Australian Burl:

“Burls yield a very peculiar and highly figured wood, its rarity also adds expense. It is very sought after. Burl wood is very hard to work with on a lathe because its grain is twisted and interlocked, causing it to chip and chatter unpredictably. This “wild grain” makes burl wood extremely dense and resistant to splitting”. I COULD NOT SAY IT ANY BETTER. SHOULD BE NAMED BEASTWOOD!