678 
BOTANY. 
any great size or elevation : but is, however, a very valuable 
timber. 
Totara (podocarpus totara). This is a noble tree, and very 
highly prized for its great durability; it rises to the height 
of about a hundred and fifty feet, the bark has the appear- 
ance of having been chopped at intervals, is tough and 
stringy, and much used as a covering for houses ; like the 
yew, the tree appears to be detrimental to underwood, and 
seldom is much found growing under it ; the totara is so 
abundant as to form forests up the Manawatu, and in some 
parts of the interior, but in general is scattered and in- 
termingled with other trees; the wood of this noble pine 
is red, hard, and durable, but brittle ; it is preferred for 
canoes, and it is not unusual to see them more than seventy 
feet long, with a width of five or six feet, formed from a single 
log ; the roots generally stand high out of the ground, and 
cover a considerable surface ; in the south, this is by far the 
most valuable tree. 
Kahikatea , kahika, koroi, — (Podocarpus excelsus.J This 
tree is commonly called the white pine, from the color of its 
wood, although there is a variety which is yellow, harder, 
and more durable, and therefore the most prized; the kahi- 
katea may be considered as nearly the loftiest tree in the 
New Zealand forest; it often attains a height of little less 
than two hundred feet, and in that respect rivals the noble 
kauri , but the usual appearance is not pleasing; it has 
a small top, and that not well covered with leaves, except 
when young, it then has a finer foliage and a pointed top 
like the fir tree ; swampy grounds are its favorite localh 
ties, and it is frequently found growing in water ; in the 
south there are forests solely of this tree; in the north, 
its timber is much softer and far more perishable, yet it 
is of extremely slow growth ; I have known young trees 
which have not increased more than one inch in height 
during the year; it bears a little red oval berry, with the 
seed stuck on the top ; every other year the crop is most 
abundant, and is a fruit highly prized by the natives, it is 
sweet, but without flavor, the wood in general will not last 
