NEW ZEALAND BEECH 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry-weight 53J lbs. per 

 cu. ft. Hardness Grade 5, compare English Elm. Tasteless. 

 Smell faint. Burns well and quietly without specific aroma : 

 embers glow dully in still air. Solution faint brown, turning 

 slightly darker but not reddish upon the addition of potash, but 

 a red ppt. is thrown down. 



Bark. Dark brown, hard, J-i inch thick, fissured externally 

 and separating in rough, rugged scales, which are speckled with 

 white where broken and filled with long, hard, white bodies : 

 closely adherent to the wood. In appearance of two layers, but 

 the structure is really uniform throughout. 



Uses, etc. Works more easily than English Beech. " A large 

 timber tree, . . . often in vast abundance, . . . superior to all 

 other kinds of Beech in general utility and undoubted durability, 

 ... a tree growing to 100 ft. high by 10 or more in diameter, . . . 

 can be readily split through a block 70 ft. long without the 

 slightest waste, ... of great strength and toughness, . . . much 

 valued for railway-sleepers, piles, bridges and constructional 

 works of every kind, . . . fences are known which are still ser- 

 viceable after 40 years' use " (91). 



Authorities. Perceval (91), pp. n, 52 and 67. Smith (111), 

 p. 417. Boulger (12), p. 479. Agent-General of N.Z. (A.G.). 



Colour. Heart-wood brown, sometimes rather dark : well de- 

 fined from the 1^-3 inches of rather lighter sap-wood. 



Anatomical Characters. As Fagus sylvestris (No. 202), with 

 the following differences : — 



Pores. Very much larger, yet need lens : size 3-4 : equally 

 numerous and crowded : 40-80 per sq. mm. 



Small Rays. Need lens : never prominent in any section, yet 

 thickening a little in the middle : 9-11 per mm. : size 4. Large 

 rays, rare, 1 or less per inch. 



Rings. Well defined but not prominent. 



Type specimen authenticated by the Forest Officer to the 

 Government of New Zealand. This wood may be confused with 

 Fagus Solandri, but is easily distinguished by the absence of the 

 powerful smell and taste of that species. 



No. 204. NEW ZEALAND BEECH. Fagus Solandri. 



Hook., fil. 



Plate XV. Fig. 129. 



Natural Order. Cupuliferas. 



Alternative Names. New Zealand Birch : Towhai (A.G.). 

 Towai (ill). Tawhai rauriki : Entire-leaved Beech (91). 

 White Birch in Nelson, Black Birch in Wellington (57). 

 The native names are also applied to other species of Beech. 



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