XXXVII.] KAHIKATEA. 397 



inches; and thus it seems probable that the point c, 

 although nearer to the outside of this log than in the 

 other, may, after all, be in about the same position in 

 the tree. The experiments for the tensile strength show 

 that the series a' - a were the strongest. 



Table CLXII. shows that the vertical strength of 

 Kauri timber is about 2"866s tons per square inch of base. 



KAHIKATEA OR "WHITE VIN'E." {Podocarpus dacrydioides). 



This majestic and noble-looking tree belongs to the 

 group Podocarpeae, allied to the Yews, and is in no sense 

 a true Pine. It is a native chiefly of the temperate zone, 

 and found abundantly in the close and dense forests of 

 New Zealand, occupying many of the deep ravines, and 

 generally preferring shelter and a low-lying moist situa- 

 tion to bring it to the greatest perfection. 



It is of straight and lofty growth, frequently attaining 

 a height of 150 to 180 feet, with a circumference of 6 to 

 IS feet. It is not an uncommon thing to meet with 

 trees of this description, rising 60 feet and upwards in 

 the stem, without a branch, and from thence to see them 

 spreading out obliquely and forming a splendid conical 

 top. The bark is dark brown in colour, rough, in strips, 

 and also scaly ; the lower portion of the stem being 

 generally covered with moss. 



The leaves are short, dark green in colour, narrow, 

 rigid and erect, bristling evenly all round the branchlets. 

 The fruit is a red berry, which the natives are very fond 

 of; and it is said that a beverage, resembhng in its 

 anti-scorbutic qualities the well-known spruce beer, may 

 be manufactured from the branches.* These trees are 

 generally overrun with strong elastic creepers, of from 



* Lindley's "Vegetable Kingdom." 



