IN EXTRA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 205 



Nageia (Podocarpus) Purdieana, Hooker. 



Jamaica, at 2,500 to 3,500 feet. This quick-growing tree attains 

 a height of 100 feet. 



Nageia (Podocarpus) spicata, Brown. 



Black Pine or Matai of New Zealand. Fruit spicate. Tree 80 

 feet high ; wood pale or reddish, soft, close, and durable ; used 

 advantageously for piles, machinery, stringers, braces, millwrights' 

 work, house blocks, railway sleepers, also weatherboards, flooring- 

 boards (Kirk). 



Nageia (Podocarpus) Thunbergi, Hooker. 



South Africa. Superior in the quality of its wood to N. pruinosa, 

 E. Meyer, and even N. elongata ; it is bright yellow, fine-grained, 

 and very handsome when polished (Dr. Pappe). 



Nageia (Podocarpus) Totara, Don.* 



New Zealand. A fine tree, 120 feet high, with a stem of 20 feet 

 in circumference ; it is called Mahogany Pine by the colonists. 

 The reddish close-grained and durable wood is valuable both for 

 building and for furniture, and is also extensively used for tele- 

 graph posts ; it is considered the most valuable timber of New 

 Zealand. Used for piles of bridges, wharves, and jetties, and in 

 other naval architecture ; the heart-wood for a long time resists 

 decay, and the attacks of the Teredo, according to Professor Kirk. 

 It ranks below Kauri in strength, but equals it in durability. It 

 is one of the most lasting woods for railway sleepers. When used 

 for piles, the bark should not be removed from the timber. Many 

 other tall timber trees of the genus Podocarpus or Nageia occur in 

 various parts of Asia, Africa, and America, doubtless all desirable ; 

 but the quality of their timber is not well known, though likely in 

 many cases excellent. Nageia is by far the oldest published name 

 of the genus. 



Nardostachys Jatamansi, Candolle. 



Mountains of Bengal and Nepal. The Spikenard. A perennial 

 herb, famous in ancient times as a medicinal plant. The root 

 contains an etherial oil and bitter principle. This drug is often 

 also obtained from N. grandiflora, Cand. 



Nastus Borbonicus, Gmelin. 



Reunion, where it forms a belt all round the mountains of the 

 island, in a zone of 3-4,000 feet. This beautiful bamboo grows to 

 a height of about 50 feet (General Munro). 



