' 144 Transactions.—Miscellaneous. 
to everyone from its eonieal shape and dark foliage. Tt seldom exceeds 
fifteen inches in thickness, but is much prized by settlers on account of its 
durability and straightness of grain. The timber is strong, heavy, and 
compact, like English beech, but much darker in colour. Red mapau will 
not stand long in the ground; but, so far as ordinary decay is concerned, 
it seems almost indestructible in most other situations. Many of the braces 
in the old Dunedin Jetty, erected seventeen years ago and recently removed, 
were of mapau sapling three or four inches in diameter. They were nearly 
all in good preservation, and free from the ravages of marine worms. Slight 
symptoms of approaching decay were observed in the braces that had their 
butt-ends in the water, but all others were quite sound. The timber is, 
however, very subject to the attacks of a small boring beetle when kept 
dry. Hitherto red mapau has only been used for firewood and fencing, but 
it ig suitable for making furniture and carpenters’ tools. 
No. 5. White mapau—-Carpodetus serratus. A small tree like the black 
mapau, No.1. It has mottled green leaves, and large white flowers; the 
wood is white and fibrous. Although its absolute strength is not so great 
as that of the red mapau, it is tougher, and consequently better suited for 
the handles of tools. 
According to observations made by Mr. T. Baber, C.E., Auckland, 
young trees of the mapau family attain a height of thirteen to seventeen 
feet in ten years. 
Manuka and Rata. 
These trees belong to different branches of the Myrtle family, one of the 
most extensive in the world. They resemble each other in the quality and 
appearance of the timber and the bark,: but are very different in size of 
trunk and character of foliage ; they also affect different localities and soils. 
No. 6. Manuka—Leptospermum scoparium. This is the variety known as 
white manuka, which is much smaller than the red. It grows best on stiff 
clayey soils that will scarcely produce anything else, but is common on the 
margin of large bushes in all the low-lying districts of the province, where 
it acts as a breakwind to less hardy plants. This tree is best known as an 
ornamental shrub, but occasionally attains to a diameter of from nine to 
fifteen inches. Its properties as a timber are generally the same as those 
of the next variety :—they will be considered further together. 
` No. 7. Manuka—Leptospermum ericoides. Is common in isolated posi- 
tions on the whole of the eastern seaboard, and occurs in considerable 
quantities in the vicinity of Dunedin, Purakanui, and Otepopo. The tree 
occasionally attains a height of sixty feet, with a diameter of from two to three 
fect at the butt; but these are extreme sizes—logs thirty feet long and ten 
inches diameter at the smaller end may be considered the practical limit of 
