Plate 185.— PODOCAKPUS TOTARA. 



(THE TOTARA.) 

 Family TAXACE^.J [Genus PODOCAKPUS, L'Hkrit. 



Podocarpus Totara, G. Beim. ex D. Don in Lamb. Gen. Pin. ed. ii (1832), 189 ; Cheesem. Mart 

 N.Z. Fl. 648. 



Although the totara is found throughout the whole length of both the 

 North and South Islands, there is no evidence to show that it was obserA^ed 

 by the earlier botanists who visited New Zealand— as Banks and Solander, 

 Forster, Menzies, &c. The first reference I can find— and that a bare men- 

 tion of the name— is in Nicholas's " New Zealand," published in 1817. The 

 first botanist under whose notice it came was the talented and enthusiastic 

 Allan Cunningham, who gathered it during his first visit to New Zealand, 

 in the year 18!>6. His diagnosis of the species, published in 1838 in the 

 well-known " Precursor," was the earliest scientific description to appear; but 

 the name Podocarjms Totara \iSid. been previously applied by D. Don in the 

 second edition of Lambert's " Pinetum," issued in 1832. Don's name, and 

 his remarks respecting the plant, were based on information supplied by 

 Dr. George Bennett, of Sydney, who visited New Zealand in 1829, and who 

 not only formed botanical collections of some importance, but who also 

 gathered a considerable amount of information respecting the natural history 

 of the country and its Maori inhabitants. 



The totara does not equal the dimensions of the kauri, but is nevertheless 

 a noble forest-tree 50 ft. to 100 ft. in height, with a trunk ranging from 2 ft. to 

 6 ft. in diameter, or even more. When growing in full luxuriance the stem is 

 tall, straight, and clean, and is often quite bare fm' 50 ft. or 60 ft., above which 

 there is a broad crown of horizontally spreading branches. The foliage is 

 dense, and from its dull-brown colour is somewhat unattractive when seen in 

 the mass. The bark is thick and deeply furrowed, stringy and papery, and 

 often horizontallv ringed at intervals of' a foot or two, especially towards the 

 base of the trunk. The tree attains its greatest size and luxuriance in deep, 

 rich alluvial soils, but it will grow fairly well in a great variety of situations,! 

 from the light pumiceous soils of the Taupo plains to stiff retentive clays. 



As already stated, the totara is found from the North Cape to Foveaux 

 Strait, but it is often somewhat sparsely distributed, especially to the north 

 of the Auckland Isthmus. It is most abundant in the central portions of 

 the North Island, from the Upper Waikato and Waipa southwards to Lake 

 Taupo, and from thence to the Upper Wanganui, Rangitikei, and Manawatu 

 on the western side of the Island, and to Hawke's Bav and the Wairarapa on 

 the eastern. In several parts of this area it is being so rapidly converted 

 into sawn timber that the once extensive forests are fast being worked out. 

 At the present rate of consumption, totara suitable for milling purposes will 

 be exhausted in about thirty years. Its altitudinal range is from sea-level 

 to 2,000 ft.; but it is seldom found of large size above 1,500 ft At altitudes 

 greater than 1,500 ft. or 2,000 ft. its place is taken by the allied species or 

 variety P. Hallii. 



It is generally admitted that next to the kauri the totara produces the 

 most valuable timber in the Dominion. It is exceedingly durable— more so, 

 in fact, than kauri; it is not liable to warp or twist, and is easy to work! 



