98 The leading Physiognomie Plants and their Growth-forms. 
All the above are tall straight trees with long, frequentiy massive trunks _ 
unbranched for their lower two-thirds or more, sometimes buttressed bases, far-- 
spreading lateral roots, which often rise high above the ground-surface, and? 
usually, small heads of foliage. 
. P. ferrugineus, P. spicatus and P. totara somewhat resemble gigantic yew 
trees, especially the two former. Their leaves are linear, those of P. ferru- 
gineus and P. spicatus are green and distichous, but those of P. Zotara 
yellowish-green, coriaceous and spirally arranged. P. dacrydioides has the 
cupressoid leaf-form, the small subulate lanceolate acuminate leäves closely 
imbricating and tightly pressed to the shoot-axis; The markedly-different 
juvenile plant has flat linear-falcate leaves of a reddish or bronze colour inserted 
on the flanks of the twigs. The crown of the adult is extremely small and 
out of all proportion to the size of the tree. (Plate XXVI, Fig. 34.) 
Dacrydium cupressinum stands out clearly from all the above. Its ultimate 
branchlets are close together and pendulous giving a “weeping” habit which 
with the yellowish hue of the leaves makes the tree unmistakeable, even 
some distance. The leaves are linear, acute and pressed to the stem. (Plate XV 
Fig. 20.) 
The flowers of the 7araceae are nearly always dioecious. The staminate- 
cones are catkin-like, and pollen is abundant. The mature pistillate cones 
consist in >. Zotara, P. dacrydioides and D. cupressinum of a nut seated on 
with a waxy "bloom”. Au these fruits are - eaten by pigeons, but usually the 
seeds. are not. conveyed to ei en for the birds remain near the food- 
b Agaskis o Salish, (Pina) Kauri. 
The Kausı is a very tal, massive forest-tree, some 24—30 m high, or kigh 
It has a straight columnar trunk a m in diam.‘) unbranched for 15 —2ı m 
or more and remarkably uniform in thickness for that distance. The bark is 
: thick, shining grey in colour and con: antly being shed in large flakes leaving 
ripple-ike marks and reddish warts on the neu oe bark. At about its 
upper third or fourth the tree gives off great branches at an angle of Er or 
less. These finally bear. ‚somewhat twisted ‚gnarled terete branchlets. 
