148 Transactions.— Miscellaneous 
fencing post. The timber is hard, tough, and imperishable, but much 
given to warping and cracking. It has been used in house blocks for 20 
years without showing symptoms of decay. 
No. 11. Broadleaf —Griselinia littoralis. There are few trees in the bush 
so conspicuous, or so well known as the Broadleaf, which is the sole Otago 
representative of its species. It is found in all the low-lying forests, but 
attains its maximum size on the East Coast. It grows to a height of fifty or 
sixty feet, and a diameter of from three to six ; the bark is coarse and fibrous, 
and the leaves a beautiful deep green of great brilliancy Although much larger, 
this tree, like the fuchsia, furnishes very little serviceable timber; it is bent 
and twisted, irregular outside, and hollow in the heart. The timber is very 
hard and brittle, and, although crooked, is easily split ; itis red in colour, 
and sometimes prettily marked, and not liable to crack or warp, conse- 
quently it would make furniture. Hitherto it has only been used in fencing, 
house blocks, and knees for boat-building. The durability of broadleaf in 
any situation is fully established ; it has never been known to fail, and old 
settlers consider it the most lasting of Otago timbers. 
No. 12. Kamai—Weinmannia racemosa. There are two trees of this 
` species in New Zealand, but this is the only one in Otago : it belongs, how- 
ever, to the same order as white mapau, which it resembles slightly. "The 
properties of this timber, and its identity, have for the last year or two been 
the cause of considerable misconception and confusion throughout the 
Province. I shall therefore endeavour to describe it so as to clear up all 
As will be seen by the tables of names, kamai is called black birch in 
the Catlin River District and Southland, which name is given on account 
of a supposed resemblance to the “ birches,” or, more correctly, “ beeches,” 
a number of which occur in that locality. I cannot understand how such 
an idea could have originated, for, except in the case of the bark of one, 
there is not the slightest resemblance between the birches and kamai. 
Furthermore, the birch that is like in bark is quite unlike in foliage, and 
it does not grow in the same forest as kamai. Whatever be the reason, 
the misapplication of names is complete, for the birches are still com- 
monly called kamai in Southland, and this has brought the latter into 
disrepute, the birch with which it is most frequently confounded being very 
subject to decay in damp situations. Kamai is little known on the east 
coast, north of the Clutha River, but is common from thence right round 
the south and west coast to Martin Bay, and particularly plentiful at Catlin 
River and the western districts. Like the pines, it is rare on high altitudes. 
Hitherto this timber has been considered of little value by scientific and 
professional men ; it is described as small, and inferior in strength and 
