2 
with racemes in full bloom is shaken, clouds of the incoherent pollen are given off 
and float away before the wind. 
So much has been written on the toxic properties of the tutu that an outline 
of the facts is all that is required here. As is well known, the poison is present in 
the young shoots, leaves, and seeds of the plant. These are readily eaten by stock, 
and under certain circumstances, which do not appear to be fully understood, often 
cause wholesale poisoning. In one case as many as forty-three head of cattle out 
of a herd of sixty were lost. The nature of the poison was first investigated by 
Mr. Skey in 1864 and 1869. He showed that a greenish oil extracted from the 
plant was highly toxic, but failed to isolate any definite compound. In 1900 
Professor Easterfield and Mr. B. C. Aston succeeded in isolating a peculiar 
glucoside, to which they gave the name of tutin, and which they proved by 
experiment to be exceedingly poisonous. They state that “a full-grown cat was 
killed by 0:05 grain, a pig by 2 grains, and a small dose, estimated at 0-01 grain, 
caused sickness and incapacity for work extending over twenty-four hours in a full- 
grown man.” (See Trans. N.Z. Inst. xxxiii (1901), 345; also the Reports of the New 
Zealand Department of Agriculture for 1900 and 1901.) Lastly, in 1909 Dr. F. 
Fitchett published in the “ Transactions of the New Zealand Institute” (vol. xli 
(1909), pp. 287-366) a very full and elaborate account of the physiological action of 
tutin, in which he reviews the work of all previous observers, and gives details of 
numerous experiments by himself showing the behaviour of various animals after 
the administration of tutin. 
Notwithstanding the toxic qualities of the plant, a pleasant beverage was 
obtained by the Maoris from the juicy berries. These were collected in great 
quantities, and the juice expressed, care being taken to strain out the poisonous 
seeds through a sieve formed by placing a thick layer of the panicles of Arundo 
conspicua at the bottom of a small basket. The expressed juice was collected in 
calabashes, and was drunk with avidity. I well remember, when paying a visit 
to the Island of Mokoia, in Lake Rotorua, in January, 1887, seeing almost half 
the population engaged in collecting the berries and straining the juice. Almost 
every available receptacle in the little village was filled with the purplish liquid, 
the sweet and pleasant taste of which proved most refreshing after our tedious row 
across the lake. 
PuatE 30. Coriaria ruscifolia, drawn from specimens collected on Rangitoto Island, Auckland 
Harbour. Fig. 1, portion of raceme, with single flower (x 8); 2, portion of flower, showing three 
sepals and two petals (x 8); 3, section of young flower, showing the pistil in a fully developed condi- 
tion, while the stamens are still immature (x8); 4 and 5, anthers (enlarged); 6, section of ovary 
(enlarged) ; 7, flower, in an advanced state, the anthers ready to discharge their pollen (x 8); 8, fruit 
(x 4); 9, seed (enlarged) ; 10, section of seed (enlarged) ; 11, embryo (enlarged). 
