December i, 1881.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
531 
bitter 
it yellow ; tliey are, however, as 
quite unfit i'01^ eating ; should a 
ttains a laa 
of a lieht- 
non, I believe, 
1 of the South 
tho white and 
.3 it very soou 
It has a leaf 
(generally prou 
through all tin 
Island. There 
the black; it 
decays, altboui 
about 2in. in 
like au almond "in shape ; " it "bears a purple berry, 
something like a plum, but more oval, with each end 
pointed like a lady's shuttle ; inside is a sort of kernel, 
inclosed in a shell like tho koraka. The berry is often 
eaten, particularly by the juvenile portion of tho com- 
munity ; it is very sweet, though sickly in taste. 
The puketea, a large trco which grows in swampy 
places, is also very common. Tho foliage is of a light- 
green, and the leaf almost circular, and the edges are 
gagged like the teeth of a saw; it is a curious sort 
of tree, which sends out large flanks or buttresses, and 
the roots ran along the surface of the ground for a 
considerable distance, and, unless the traveller is ex- 
ceedingly careful, he is apt to receive an ugly fall, and 
perhaps bark his shins, through tripping over them. 
The wood is of a dark green or brown colour, but is 
not much used; it rather inclined to be spongy, and 
Bucks in any moisture very readily, which causes it to 
rot; it is very often hollow, and affords a refuge for 
l wild bees, which frequent the woods in large numbers, 
l«nd often as much as lewt. of honey is got from a 
single tree, though I have heard of quite double that 
quantity being got at times ; they also inhabit the 
rata. I have beard it said that there was a tree grow- 
ing in Uovonshiro that for years baffled the botanists; 
but it was at last recognised, by a gentleman who had 
ma tew Zealand, as the puketea. The mho is an- 
other tree that is common in some parts of the forest; 
it is also a species of pine, much resembling the matai, 
j1but tho foliage is of a very dark green. It bears a 
■right scarlet berry, not unlike a cherry ; it is greedily 
fievourod by the wild pigeons, but is not lit for human 
■Onsumption ; the wood is of a right red colour, and is 
■pry stringy, but is not used much except for firewood. 
The honeysuckle is also very common, and is one of 
the tallest of the Now Zealand forest trees. It often 
reu< \ the height of 100ft.; it grows somewhat like a 
■Hilar, but the leaves hear no resemblance to the former. 
The ark is about half an inch in thickness, but is not 
Used for any purpose, as it decays very rapidly. The 
Vood is much used by cabinet makers; it is very hand- 
some, with dark-red spots, so different to any other- sort 
of wood I have over scon ; the loaves are about six inches 
In length by about ono in width ; it is of a dark rusty 
B 1; il hears a flower like the French honoysucklo, 
hi oh, I believe, it derives its uame, (I have been 
unanlo to obtain the native name), but it is entirely 
Hid of scent. It beam seed inclosed in pods, like a 
aum'! it. in ; when they become ripe they split open, and 
the >«oods full to tho ground. The ngaio (nio) is another 
Which is also common, but I believe it is almost use- 
less ; L is a very hundsoino tree, with large light-groen 
leaves with small light-coloured spots. On the uppor 
■Ide tho tops grow very evenly, and ono woidd almost 
■Oppose that it hud undergone the operation of being 
Wmiue I ; it he:irs a small horry of a palo purple colour, 
with a stone insi.le: it is a little larger than a pea. 
Ouo of the most remarkable is a konini, or wild fuchsia ; 
the dye 
all trax 
f the most common : it has a much 
any other I have seen. The under 
a silvery white, the flower is much 
autif ul than those grown in gardens : 
fruit, which grows in large quantities ; 
t about the colour of a blackheart 
!S your lips and hands stained with 
water, however, will quickly remove 
y exceeds 30 ft. in height ; the trunk 
ckness ; the bark is similar in colour 
ias, and the light-red trunks catch 
r eller at once. 
more trees worthy of mention, such 
or mahoe), a tree about the size of 
ght-green leaves and clusters of pur- 
t was called whitewood I can nover 
lecidedly bright yellow. There is also 
natives call it, " waiwoki " ; it only 
the eye of the tea 
as the whitewood 
the fuchsia, with 1 
pie berries. Why 
understand ; it is 1 
a birch, or, as tho 
grows in swampy ground, and, I should say, belongs to 
the myrtle family ; it bears bright scarlet hemes very 
much like the holly. They are much sought for by the 
juveniles; the - wood is white, and is chiefly used for 
fencing. The titoki, or tapitap, is frequently to be met 
with ; its leaf somewhat resembles that of the elder, but 
is of a darker green ; it seldom grows more than 3 ft. 
in diameter ; it bears a curious red berry, the stone 
being on the outside ; the wood is light-coloured and 
intensely tough and stringy, and is much used for shafts 
for carts and handles, for all sorts of implements. The 
mairi is rather a rare 'tree ; the wood lasts for very 
many years; it is mostly used for house blocks, and 
not unfrcquently for burning ; it is intensely hard, and 
the wood is of a light-red colour ; its leaves are much 
like those of the ^villow in shape, but of a much darker 
green, its branches spread out on all sides like an ash 
tree, which give it a very stately look. The last of the 
list is a cypress, which grows only on the sides of tho 
mountain ranges hi great quantities, and is, of course, 
just as sombre-looking as most trees of the cypress 
family are. I believe that as yet it has not been used 
for any particular purpose. It splits very readily, and, 
should, therefore, be easily worked. Strange to say, 
the foliage seems only to grow on one side of the tree. 
Most of the New Zealand trees are medicinal. Tho 
sap of the rata creeper will effectually stop the flow of 
blood from a wound. A small piece of puketea bark 
will cure toothache ; while tho leaf of a shrub called 
korimiko will prove a good antidote for slacluiess of 
tho bowels. Only two of the shrubs are known to be 
poisonous, and those are the tulu already mentioned, 
and the warangi or kangiora, of which there are two 
species. The shrub on 
to 11 ft. ; it has lai 
side being quite wh: 
bunches of small b 
colour, which 
the height of from Vi ft. 
iped leaves, the under- 
lo summer it bears largo 
owers, of a light buff 
hough not unpleasant, 
onell. The leaf is exceedingly poisonous to either cattle 
or horses — it has an intoxicating effect on tho latter. 
I think I have mentioned all the New Zealand treos, 
with tho exception of a few varieties of birch, and a 
tree they call lacewood ; they can scarcely be called 
trees. The lacewood is so called on account of the 
stiinginess of tho bark, which comes off in small strips, 
and is remarkably strong ; the tree bears clusters of 
snow-white blossoms, not unliko tho orange, but they 
huvo no perfume like tho former. Tho best timber next 
to tho kauri is culled kunu, or red pine ; it grows very 
plentifully in the province of Tarauuki, and in the neigh, 
hourhood of Pelorus Sound in tho northern part of the 
South Island ; it glows to a very largo size, but what 
grows in tho latter pluco is not bo good as tho former, 
by roason of its rapid growth, and tlus is accounted for 
owing to tho deep gorges in which it grown, whore, 
sheltered from nil the prevailing winds, nud no lack of 
uioistiu-o, it springs up very - quickly, and consequently 
there is not much substance in tho wood. Millions of 
feet of this viUuublu timber ore being wasted auuuallj 
