60 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



are deciduous. The Cedars, again, differ from the Larches 

 in keeping their leaves for several years, and in bearing closely 

 imbricated cones. The stamens of the Junipers and Cypresses 

 bear spheroidal pollen, instead of oval, as do the Pines ; and the 

 Yew is easily distinguished by its coral-like drupes or berries. 

 The leaves of this tree are poisonous to animals, but the 

 berries appear to be innocuous. The Yew attains to a great 

 age, and has been reckoned to live for three or four hundred 

 years. 



The woody tissue of the Conifers is noted for the absence of 

 ducts or vessels, and the presence at the same time of 

 bordered pits. This structure can be readily perceived even 

 in silicified wood. There is a similar structure in some of the 

 Magnoliaceae, such as Drimijs, etc., but the character of this 

 wood differs considerably in other ways. The New Zealand 

 Coniferae include the Kauri, the Kahikatea, the Totara, the 

 Kimu, the Matai, the Tanekaha, the Miro, etc. The Tanekaha 

 {Pliyllocladus) possesses only scale-leaves, the functions 

 of the leaves being performed by leaf-like flattened 

 branchlets (phylloclades). The genus Agathis is an ancient 

 ■one, related to the Auracarias (Monkey Puzzle, etc.) 



Genus Agathis. 



This genus is fomid only in Australia, New Zealand, the Malayan and Fiji 

 Islands, New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. Leaves flat, broad, parallel-veined ; 

 ovule solitary. Seed winged. Agathis orientalis of the East Indies is remarkable 

 for the quantity of valuable resin (Dammar) which it produces. (Name from the 

 Oreek meaning a ball of thread, in allusion to the nearly spherical cone). 1 sp.* 



*The number of species from New Zealand and the outlying islands recorded in 

 •Cheeseman's Handbook. 



