THE ART ALBUM OF NEW ZEALAND ELOUA. 



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peculiarly-shaped, furrowed nut within ; its skin is hard, dry, and shining, and of a greyish 

 colour ; the outside, or fleshy jiart, is also dryish, small in quantity, austere, and altogether 

 uneatal)le in its raw state. These fruits were collected when ripe, in large quantities, 

 and placed in water in the hull of a canoe, or some such large receptacle, where, after 

 steeping, they were well ruhhed in the hands, the nuts, stalks, and hits of l)roken skin 

 strained out, the Avater carefully drained off, and the grey, coarse meal left as a residuum, 

 made into a huge cake, cooked, and eaten. To hake a big cake through, it often took 

 two days. In colour the cake was a hlackish grey, darker than barley or rye l)read ; tlie 

 rough, unpalatable taste of the fruit in its raw state being wholly lost in the cooking. 

 This food Avas greatly esteemed, and, when in season, always made a first-i'ate dish for 

 visitors. The rats in the forest are exceedingly fond of its kernel, and prove themselves 

 very expert in boring through the hard shell to extract it. The bark of the Hinau 

 yields a permanent blue-black dye, which is used largely for tanning purposes ; and, by 

 addhig the rust of iron to it, produces an excellent non-corrosive ink. The dye was 

 formerly much in request l)y the Maoris for coloiu-ing their flax mats and baskets, using 

 a mordaunt composed of aluminous clay. The tan-producing jiroperties of the bark of 

 the Ilinau is estimated to be second only, amongst New Zealand trees, to the Tauekaha 

 [FliijUochidus trlchomaiiokles), and has for years past been an article of export, besides 

 being much sought after by local tanners. 



2. ELQ^OCARPUS HOOKERIANUS {Baoul.) Dr. Hooker's Ela-ocarpus 



Specific Chakacteh. — A small ijuite, glabrous tree, 30- 

 40 ft. high, like E. denial m: in habit, but smaller in all its 

 parts. Leaves coriaceous, elliptical or linear-oblong, obtuse, 

 lj-2 in. long, margins Hat, crenate or sinuate-serrate, those of 

 young ])lants linear and pinnatifid ; petioles {-i in. long. 



Racemes erect, shorter than the leaves, with small, (lroi>i)ing. 

 whitish tlowers ; Sepals, lanceolate; Petals rather longer, 

 unei|uall\' cleft into obtuse lobes. Anthers obtuser than in 

 JE. dentaliis. Drupe small, blue, i in., with a furrowed, 

 rugose nut. — Handbook of the Sew Zealand Flora, p. lit. 



Description, etc. — The " POKAKO." — This species is indigenous to the hilly 

 portions of the Northern, and common on the Middle Island. It is smaller in all 

 its parts to E. dentafus, but diifers widely from it in its more compact ha])it, 

 smaller close-set leaves, and small flowers, which are greenish white, and drooping, but 

 very conspicuous by their abundance. Though destitute of fragrance, equally, with those 

 of the " Hinau," they produce a good deal of honey. This tree, in favourable localities, 

 sometimes attains a height of fifty feet, with a trunk two feet in diameter, but is usually 

 smaller. It is noticeable that in young plants the leaves are small, croAvded, and 

 A'ariously-shaped, whilst the branches are flexuoiis and interlacing, in no way resembling 

 the mature trees. The timber is Avhitish, compact, and diflicult to split, Init apparently 



