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of the forest-vegetation, formerly covering the Isthmus. To judge 
from the Kauri gum found upon the Isthmus, the queen of the 
New Zealand forest, the Kauri pine, had likewise a share in those 
forests. On the road to Onehunga, at the foot of Mount Eden, 
Cabbage-Tree, on the Road from Auckland to Onelmnga. 
there stands an isolated “cabbage tree” (Ti of the natives; Cordy- 
line australis), nearly 30 feet high, with ramified branches and 
a crown of luxuriant growth , — a true representative of the ori- 
ginal vegetation, and a magnificent specimen of its kind, fully 
deserving the indulgence bestowed upon it. A tree quite peculiar 
to the volcanic cones is Brachyglois repanda, by the natives called 
Pukapuka, meaning book or paper- tree because of the white lin- 
ing of its leaves. On the high bluffs of the Waitemata, there are 
some few scattered Poliutukaua trees ( Metrosideros tomentosa) the 
last remains of the beautiful vegetation, that once decked the shores 
of the harbour. About Christmas these trees are full of charming 
purple-blossoms ; the settler decorates his church and dwelling with 
its lovely branches, and calls the tree “Christmas-tree.” As to 
the rest of the landscape, it presents only shrubs. 
Nearly every vestige of the former wilderness has disappeared 
from the Isthmus. The former vegetation has been mostly sup- 
