PLATE 43.—WEINMANNIA RACEMOSA. 
Famtny SAXIFRAGACEAL. | [Genus WEINMANNIA, Linn. 
Weinmannia racemosa, Linn. |. Suppl. 227; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 139. 
Weinmannia racemosa was first gathered by Banks and Solander in Queen 
Charlotte Sound (or Totaranui, as they called it) during Cook’s first visit, and was 
fully described and figured in Solander’s manuscript “ Primitize Flore Nove 
Zelandie,” a work which was never published. It was again collected by the 
Forsters in Cook’s second voyage, and on the return of the expedition to Europe 
was published in the “Supplementum Plantarum” of the younger Linneus, no 
doubt from information supplied by the Forsters, for it appeared under the same 
name in George Forster’s “ Prodromus,” published a few years later. Since then 
it has been gathered in many localities in the middle and southern portions 
of the North Island, and throughout the South Island. It attains its northern 
limit, so far as is known, in the Kauaeranga Valley, Thames, and on the cliffs 
fringing the Waikato River near Hamilton. Its most southern station is in Stewart 
Island, where it is plentiful, often forming the chief portion of the lowland forest. 
Its altitudinal range is from sea-level to over 3,000 ft. 
Weinmannia racemosa is a large forest-tree, often attaining a height of from 
50 ft. to 80 ft., or even more, with a trunk 1 ft. to 4{t. im diameter. It is usually 
known by its Maori names of tawhero or kamahi, the latter being principally used in 
the South Island. It is very closely allied to its congener Weinmannia sylwvicola, the 
towai of the Maoris and settlers, and in the middle portion of the North Island the 
two are often confounded. But in W. racemosa the leaves of the mature trees are 
usually larger and 1-foliolate, and the branches are nearly glabrous; whereas in 
W. sylvicola the leaves are smaller, and 3-foliolate or even imparipinnate, and 
the branches are more or less pubescent. The leaves of young plants are generally 
pinnate in both species, and vary excessively, especially in W. sylvicola, where the 
number of leaflets may range from three to ten pairs. 
The tawhero is so abundant in many forest districts that the timber has been 
applied to a variety of purposes, such as fencing-posts, house-blocks, tramway- 
sleepers, piles, &c. The general opinion, however, is that it is not durable where 
exposed to alternations of weather, although it may be serviceable where it is used 
under water, or altogether imbedded in the ground. It has been occasionally 
employed for inlaying and ornamental turning, and as it possesses considerable 
variety of colour and grain it might well be used to a greater extent. 
The distribution of the genus Weinmannia presents some remarkable points. 
Over eighty well-established species are known, more than half of which are found 
in South America. Another centre of the genus is in Madagascar, from whence 
more than fifteen species have been described. The Pacific islands contain twelve 
or thirteen species, while Australia has four. The northern limit of the genus is 
in Mexico in the New World, and in the Philippine Islands in the Old. 
Puate 43. Weinmannia racemosa, drawn from specimens collected in the vicinity of Nelson. 
Fig. 1, a pair of flowers (x 4); 2, stamen with glands (x 8); 3, back view of stamen (x 8); 4, pistil, 
with glands on the disc (x 8) ; 5, longitudinal section of pistil (x 8) ; 6, ripe fruit (x 3) ; 7, seed (x 5). 
