Buarr.—On the Building Materials of Otago. 143 
Harpwoops. 
Mapaus. 
The trees in this family are too small to yield useful building ma- 
terials ; but it is important in furnishing the strongest wood in Otago, 
I have therefore given it the first place in the tables. The five trees that 
will be considered under the generic name of Mapau are not all members of 
the same botanical order. The first three are pittosporeal ; the fourth, red 
mapau, is the only Otago representative of a large New Zealand family ; 
and the fifth, white mapau, although belonging to an extensive order, has 
no immediate relatives in the colony. The mapaus are found in all the 
low-lying forests, and are particularly plentiful in the neighbourhood of 
Dunedin. 
No. 1. Black mapau—Pittosporum tenuifolium, A small tree seldom 
exceeding 80 feet in height, and twelve inches in diameter. It has pale 
green shining leaves and purple flowers. The wood, which is of a dirty 
white colour, is tough and fibrous. Mr. Balfour's experiments at the New 
Zealand Exhibition, showed it to be nearly 90 per cent. stronger than Eng- 
lish oak. * 
No. 2. Black mapau—Pittosporum Colensoi, With the exception of being 
generally larger, this tree is identical with the former; indeed, some 
authorities suppose that they are merely varieties of the same species. 
No. 3. Turpentine—Pittosporum eugenioides. This is the largest of the 
mapau family ; it sometimes attains a height of 40 feet, with a diameter of 
24 inches. The bark is thin, and of a light colour; the leaves are silvery 
green, and the flowers pale yellow. Altogether, this is one of the hand- 
somest trees in Otago. The bark exudes a thick gum, and the juice of the 
leaves, which is somewhat similar, was formerly used by the Maoris as a 
perfume, but I fear it is too resinous for European tastes. 
The three trees above described yield a close, compact, heavy wood, 
hard, tough, and fibrous in the grain, but much given to warping when 
used green. It is not durable in fencing posts, or similarly exposed situa- 
tions, but answers well for rails. Hitherto this timber has not been used 
in constructions of any kind; it is not suitable for many building purposes, 
but would do for handles and implements where strength is required. 
No. 4. Red mapau—Myrsine urvillei. This is a small tree, well known 
* This and all subsequent comparisons of the same kind throughout the paper are 
made from the results of Balfour’s experiments as compared with those of Barlow, the 
standard authority in Balfour’s time. Recent experiments by Laslett give, in some 
cases very different results, so a better comparison between the strengths of Otago and 
other timbers can be made by inspecting Table IV., where Barlow’s and Laslett’s experi- 
ments are both given, 
