On Timber Trees of New Zealand. 229 



not been used much for carpentry, owing, I think, to its 

 being more difficult to procure, and harder to saw and work 

 up, than the pines. Tawai sphts easily into shingles and 

 laths. 



It grows chiefly in mountain districts, and invariably in 

 the poorest clay soils, where none of the other forest trees 

 of the alluvial grounds are found. It is a mark of hard 

 clay or gravelly soil. The rich flat grounds are covered 

 with pines and other trees, whilst on the surrounding hills 

 are forests of nothing but black and white birch, extending 

 for miles ; and these forests are almost bare of underwood, 

 which in the pine forests of the richer ground is remarkably 

 thick. It grows like the English beech, and the leaf is 

 something like the leaf of the beech. The bark is black and 

 rough. 



Tiie specimen was cut from an average tree from the hills 

 on the east side of the Hutt. The average diameter is 

 about 18 inches, and height 50 feet. 



{Note ly W. S. — There are two distinct species in the 

 Upper Hutt, the black and the white birch, known by the 

 colour of their bark and the difierent shape of their leaves. 

 A third is found on the mountains, and its lower branches 

 hang on the ground. I have only seen this remarkable 

 kind in the mountain glens of the Wai-nui-ornata.) 



5. Tana {Laurus Tana) is not used in carpentry. It has 

 a light coarse grain, with dark streaks. It burns well. 



It grows almost exclusively on the flat alluvial grounds, 

 being a mark of rich soil. It bears a leaf something like that 

 of the willow, and grows like the ash. The fruit is a dark 

 plum with a turpentine flavour, ripe in June. 



The specimen was taken from a small tree in the Hutt, 

 and cut in October, 1849. 



(I have seen this tree in the Upper Hutt valley grow to 

 an immense size. — W. S.) 



