186 



55 and 52 inches, and at Dunedin, 50 and 35 inches, respectively. New Zealand trees 

 could thus only thrive in the coldest parts of the Natal upland region. The principal species 

 are conifers. Besides Dammara australis, the Kauri pine of the north island, the largest 

 and most valuable are Podocarpus Totara (Totara), P. spicata (Matai), P. ferruginea 

 (black pine), Podocarpus ducryoides (white pine), Dacrydium cupressinum (red pine the 

 most common tree of the country), the Manao (D. Kirkii and D. Golensoi), Libocedrus 

 Donia.no, (Kawka), L. Bidwilli (Pahautea), and Phyllocladus trichomanoides (Teuekaha). 

 The more important non-coniferous trees are different kinds of Tawai, or Birch (Fagus 

 fusca, F. Menziesii, and F. Solandri) the Puriri (Vitex littoralis), the Pohutukawa 

 (Metrosideros tomentosa), the Rata (M. robusta and M. liecida), the several kinds of Maire 

 ( Olea Cunninghami, 0. apetalata, and Eugenia Maire), the Kawhai (Sophora tetraptera} 

 and the Manuka (Leptospermum ericoides.) 



The timbers of New Zealand are described in T. Kirk's Forest Flora of New 



Zealand. 



Polynesia. In New Caledonia alone, there are 183 species of trees, described by 

 Sebert in his Notice sur les Bois de la Nouvelle CaUdonie, the most important being : 

 Araucaria Cookii, A. Rulei, Dammara lanceolata, D. Moorei, D. ovata, several small 

 species of Podocarpus, the widely dispensed Casuarina equisetifolia, several other species 

 of the same genus, (. lirysophyllum Wakere, Pancheria ternata, Gclssois racemosa, 

 Montrouziera spherceftora, Calophyllum inophyllum, C. montanum Flindersia Fournieri, 

 Euphorbia Cleopatra, Spermolepsis gummifera, and Albizzia granulosa. The forest flora, 

 of New Caledonia presents a curious affinity to that of Natd, 44 genera out of 125 being 



Other Polynesian trees of note are : Araucaria excelsa (Norfolk Island Pine), Dammara 

 macrophylla, found in the Santa Cruz Archipelago, D. obtusa, in the New Hebrides, and 

 D Vitiensis in Fiji. Several kinds of Sandalwood are very valuable : Santalinn 

 Austro Caledonicum, in New Caledonia, S. Tasi, in Fiji, and S. Freycinetianum, in the 

 Sandwich Islands. 



South America. Following the line indicating a mean temperature of 70 at sea- 

 level the countries to be examined are Peru, Bolivia, North Argentine and South Brazil. 

 The great mountain chain of the Andes runs north and south from the Pacific coast, and 

 an Andine region may be separated from an Atlantic region by a line drawn along the 

 eastern base of the Andes. The first includes the greater part of Peru, Bolivia and North 

 Chili. Important conifers are found in the Andes of Chili ; the mean temperature of their 

 habitat being probably about 50 so that they could only be introduced in the coldest 

 parts of Natal. The principal species are : Araucaria imbricata, and Filzroya Patagonica, 

 both extending to Patagonia, Podocarpus Chilina, P. nubigena, P. andina. Libocedrus 

 tetraqona, and L. Chilensis. Non-coniferous trees are, in Chili, Fagus Dombeyi (an 

 evergreen beech), F- procera (Reule), and F. obliqua (Roble), the last two deciduous, 

 Laurelia aromatica, found in South Chili, associated with L. serrata, Quillaja saponaria, 

 Adenostemum nitidum, Myrtus Lumal and M. Meli, both of which are trees of South 

 Chili and Salia; IJumboldtiana, extending to Patagonia. The pods of Ccesalpinia 

 brevifolia and the bark of Persea lingue are much valued for tanning. In Peru, there are 

 vast forests of which very little is known, but yielding many products of economic im- 

 portance such as Cinchona bark and Coca. The best forests of Cinchonas occur in moist 

 warm valleys with a mean temperature of from 53* to 66. Cinchona officinalis, C. 

 Calisaya and C. succirubra are the principal species. Coca consists of the leaves of 

 Ervthroxylon Coca, of which more than 600,000 in value are collected annually. 



The vast forests of Brazil, which cover an area half the size of Europe, are 

 distributed chiefly in the tropical basin of the Amazons, where the climate is considerably 

 warmer than that of Natal. Towards the south, however, there are still some valuable 

 species including Araucaria Brasiliensis, Cedrela Brasiliensis, and C- Veloziana ; and 

 among' the non-coniferous trees, Dalbergia miscolobium and D. nigra, which supply a 

 portion of the Jacaranda or Palissandre wood, with Jacaranda mimosifolia, J. 

 Braziliana and J. obtusifolia. Madura Mora and Pircunia dioica are also trees of the 

 Atlantic region. Plants of special economic importance are the wax palm (Copernicia 



. Carissa, 



anu-c *-!,,<.<<-* -', Pittottporum, Podocarpus, Rhizophora, Rhus, Schmidelia, Sponia, Stcrculla, 

 a Sizygiw, Taberntemontana, Tcrminalia, Trichilia, Ximenia; they include 81 species. 



