74 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



The wood is very suitable for the manufacture of paper and 

 IS now used for tliat purpose. Tlie tree grows chiefly nr 

 swampy districts and in l)oth islands. 



Genus iJarii/iliii III. 



Shfulis Of trees, found o]il\" in NTow Zealand, Tasmania, tlie Slalay 

 Aieliipela.L^o, and tlie islands <A the Pa.eifio. Leaves narrow and scale-lil^e. !Male 

 and female flowers on separate trees. Frnit, a small nut enelosed in a tlesliy 

 enp. (Na.me frC)m the (rreek for a Icar, in allusion to the weeping liahit ol s(.)me 

 of the speeies). 7 sp. 



Dacrydium cupressinum (Tlie Binui or Bed Pine.) 



I'his pine is one of the most beautiful objects in the New 

 Zealand busli. Its pale-green, drooping branches differ from 

 those of any other forest tree. " The leaves are only small 

 prickles, running" up a long stem, from which branch out other 

 small stems whose united weight causes the main stem to hang" 

 like the branches of the weeping willow." The whole tree, 

 when young, has the appearance of a lycopodium. Spruce- 

 l^eei' was made from the )'(jung branches Ijy Captain Cook, and 

 proved an excellent remedy for the scurvy. The seed is 

 curious, consisting of a nut placed in a cup like that of an 

 acorn. This fruit is tmy, but beautiful, the nut being of a 

 blue-lilack and the cup) red. The male flowers are produced in 

 inconspicuous green catkins at the end (jf erect branchlets. 

 The female are solitary, at the tip of curved branchlets, and 

 the nut is about one-eighth of an inch long. Prickles such as 

 those on the leaves run spiraJly round the trunk. The timl)er 

 is of a red or yellow colour, and beautifully marked. It 

 is used to great advanta.ge m dadoes, ])anels, and fV)r ceilings. 

 The Tarariaki rirnu is es[)ecially straight m the grain and 

 ver\' resinous. It is much used lor bridge-building m that 

 disti'ict. The heart-wood is extremely resinous, and was made 

 into torches b\' the natives. It was split into shreds and tied 

 into Imndles, and only needed the ashes to be occasionalh' 

 knocked off to burn with a bi'ight, steady blaze.. The riiuu 



