328 Transactions. — Botany. 



any signs of decay. The miro is easy to cultivate, but is very deficient in 

 beauty in the young state, the whole plant being of a rusty red colour. 



5. The rimu or red pine, Dacrydium cupressinum, is much less abundant 

 on the peninsula than any of the above sorts, being chiefly found on the 

 higher ridges, and is here a far inferior tree in beauty compared to the West 

 Coast variety of the same species. The well-known red wood of this species 

 makes beautiful furniture, and is also used for interior house- work, for which 

 it is especially adapted when well seasoned. The rimu is a beautiful object 

 under cultivation, but is liable to be killed by exceptionally hard winters. 

 A number of fine young trees in the Christchurch Public Gardens were 

 entirely destroyed by frost during the winter of 1878, and I have also seen 

 it injured in the bush. 



6. The cedar, Libocedrus doniana, is a very rare tree on the Peninsula, 

 and, as far as I have been able to ascertain, is not found in any other part 

 of the South Island. It is a beautiful tree, of graceful, upright habit, and 

 does well under cultivation. The timber is valuable. 



7. The kawaka, Libocedrus bidwiUU, which in Otago grows to a large 

 size, is here little better than a shrub. Its wood, however, is hard and 

 durable. 



8. The broadleaf, Griselinia littoraUs, is abundant in the district, and 

 produces a hard red wood of a durable nature, which has been used for 

 various purposes. 



9. The manuka, Le^Jtospermum ericoides, is another hard- wooded tree, 

 which has been used for the different purposes requking strength, which it 

 possesses in an eminent degree. It is, however, fast becoming extinct. 



10. The kowhai, Sophora tetraptera var. grandiflora, belongs to the great 

 family of pod-bearers, and is a large tree with splendid yellow flowers. It 

 attains a height of 40 feet to 50 feet, and a diameter of 3 feet, and is much 

 used for furniture-making, but is already becoming scarce. 



11. The ribbon-wood, Plagianthus betulinus, a large deciduous tree with 

 a very upright poplar-like habit of growth, yields a softish white timber 

 which splits well, but is not durable. 



The species of Fagus or beeches, erroneously called birches by our 

 bushmen, are very rare on the peninsula, occurring only in small quantities, 

 and consequently then- timber has never formed an item in the export trade 

 of the district. 



The above-mentioned kinds of trees comprise all that are usually cut for 

 their timber, but very many others enter into the composition of the forest 

 and may perhaps be found to have some useful properties at present un- 

 known. Such are: — The hini-hini, Melicytus ramijiorus. The titoki, Alec- 

 tryon excelsum. The ivy-tree, Panax arboreum. The very curious and beauti- 



