Forest Plants. 99 
a close head of olive-green foliage results. The leaves are closely inserted in 
a spiral; they imbricate but do not touch. They are dark-green, thick, coria- 
ceous, rather stiff, linear-oblong to ovate-oblong and about 3.7 cm long by 
ı.2 cm broa 
The flowers are monoecious. The staminate cones produced in September 
and early October are cylindrical and about 3 cm long. The ovulate when 
ripe are almost spherical, hard, dark-green and from 5—7 cm in diam. The 
scales are rather thin, each bears one compressed and winged seed. When 
mature, in March (more than a year after pollination) the scales fall away from 
the woody axis of the cone, and the seeds drop to the ground, or, were a 
high wind blowing, might be carried a short distance. Quite young trees may 
bear cones, Me 
Young trees differ much in appearance from adults. The branches are 
slender and inserted at a right angle to the trunk; they arch upwards at their 
extremities whence are given off short yellowish-green branchlets closely covered 
near their extremities with leaves. Such trees are densely leafy and pyramidal 
in form, tapering gradually to a rather blunt apex. Juvenile leaves are longer‘ 
and narrower than adult. The rootlets of the Kauri are furnished with nodules. 
Agathis australis is endemic and does not occur to the S. of lat. 38° S. 
It is of very slow growth and attains a great age‘) but the ans 
estimate of T. KiRK'as below is far too great. 
c. Metrosideros vobusta A. Cunn. (Myrtac.), Rata and M. lucida (Forst. f.) 
. Rich., Southern-rata, Ironwood. (Plate XVI, Fig. er 
Both the above trees are of irregular growth. Their leaves are more or 
less elliptic-lanceolate in shape, 4 cm, or E long, glossy green, coriaceous and 
dotted beneath with numerous oil-glan ds. The bark is reg ‚and es £ 
RE Besides. their. massive i 
.  tenders both species specially consp 
M. rn Bine 
