312 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [CHAP. 
trunk of from 8 to 18 feet in length, with a circum- 
ference of 6 to 9 feet, and an overpowering weight of 
robust branches. The foliage is a deeply-veined, plain- 
edged, light-green leaf, 2 inches in breadth by 3 inches 
in length. It flowers nearly all the year round, and is 
especially full in September ; the flowers are of a deep 
red colour, and somewhat bell-shaped. The fruit, which 
is like a cherry, is a favourite food of the wood-pigeon. 
The Puriri tree yields timber 9 to 18 feet in length, 
and 10 to 18 inches square. The bark is thin, smooth, 
and greyish-white in colour. The wood is dark brown, 
extremely hard, heavy, close-grained, and generally free 
from defects, the exception being that it is liable to 
some slight injury during growth from a worm, which 
bores it from the roots upwards, leaving a clean hole of 
from 1% to 5éths of an inch diameter. The alburnum or 
sap-wood on this tree is generally from 2 to 3 inches 
thick, and of a yellowish colour. 
This timber is very durable, and suitable for the 
frames of ships, and also for many other purposes where 
hard, short, curved wood is required. Specimen logs 
were brought to England to be used experimentally in 
ship-building. The specific gravity of Puriri in a green 
state is about 1100, and when seasoned it is nearly 1000. 
The Kauri, Kahikatea, Tanakaha, Rimu, Miro, 
Totara, Rata, Pohutukawa, and Puriri trees are the 
principal, and, except the Kahikatea, probably the most 
valuable of all that can be found in New Zealand. Still 
there are many other varieties, about thirty, some ten or 
twelve of which could be made available for building and 
cabinet purposes ; the remainder would be more or less 
useful for the manufacture of agricultural implements, 
fuel, &c., &c. 
