Plate 171.— KNIGHTIA EXCELSA. 



(THE REWAREWA.) 



Family PROTEACE^.] [Genus KNIGHTIA, R. Br. 



Knightia excelsa, R. Br. in Trans. lAmi. Hoc. x (1810), 194, t. 2 ; Clieesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 606. 



Very few New Zealand trees have a more distinctive appearance than the 

 subject of this plate, commonly known by its Maori name of rewarewa. Its tall 

 and fastigiate mode of growth, somewhat resembling that of the Lombardy poplar, 

 its stiff and rigid erect branches, the coriaceous and almost woody leaves, and 

 the conspicuous racemes of bright red-brown flowers, usually produced on the 

 branches below the leaves, are well-marked characters not easily overlooked by 

 the most incurious observer. 



Like so many of the conspicuous lowland plants of New Zealand, we owe the 

 first discovery of Knightia to Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. So lander, who in October, 

 1769, collected it at Tolaga Bay during Cook's first voyage. An excellent 

 description and very characteristic plate were prepared from the specimens 

 collected on this occasion, forming part of Solander's projected " Primitise 

 Florae Novse Zelandise," a work which, to the great loss of botanical science, 

 has remained unpubHshed for 140 years. In 1810 the well-known botanist Robert 

 Brown establislied the genus Knightia for our plant, a name which it has retained 

 until the present day. Two New Caledonian plants have been subsequently added 

 to the genus, but they differ in the axillary and terminal racemes and large 

 coloured deciduous bracts, and form the subgenus Eucarfha. 



Knightia excelsa is an abundant tree throughout the greater part of the Nortli 

 Island, from the North Cape to Cook Strait. But although I have seen it as high 

 as 2,800 ft., it is not common above an elevation of 2,000 ft., and is therefore absent 

 from the higher forests of the central volcanic plateau, and from the similar forests 

 on the flanks of the Ruahine and Tararua Mountains. With these exceptions, it 

 might almost be said to be of general occurrence in the North Island. In the South 

 Island its distribution is much more limited. So far as I am aware, it is confined 

 to a few localities in Pelorus Sound and the other inlets of northern Marlborough, 

 and to the vicinity of Croixelles Harbour, in Nelson. 



With the exception of the ConifercB and a few trees like the pukatea 

 (Laurelia), Knightia is as tall as any of the trees constituting the New Zealand 

 forest. Specimens between 80 ft. and 90 ft. high are comparatively common, and 

 it is said to occasionally exceed 100 ft. The trunk ranges from 2 ft. to 3 ft. m 

 diameter or sometimes slightly more. The wood is not durable in situations where 

 it is exposed to the weather, although in the early days of the Dominion it was 

 split into palings or even sawn into weatherboards. But for such purposes as 

 inlaying, panelling, furniture and cabinet-work, and all kinds of ornamental turnery 

 it is a very suitable and handsome timber. It is beautifully variegated, reddish 

 on a light-brown ground, is of considerable strength, and takes a high finish. 



The fertihzation of the flowers of Knightia is well worth careful study. I have 

 described it in detail in a memoir published in vol. 2 of the " Journal of the 

 Australasian Association," but a short abstract mav be useful here. The flowers 

 are arranged in pairs on stout lateral racemes 2 in. to 4 in. long, each raceme 

 containing from 40 to 80 flowers, or even more. Before expansion the perianth 

 is cylindrical in shape, slightly swollen at the base and towards the apex. In the 

 young bud there is no appearance of segments, but ultimately the top of the tube 



