691 
BOTANY. 
size ; the wood is hard and durable ; when young it is very 
ornamental, and valuable as a shelter from the sea air, which 
seems to suit it the best ; it is often three feet in diameter. 
( — pubescens,) a variety belonging to the Middle Island. 
Fam. Vtrbenacte — Puriri (vitex littoralis). This tree is 
not found south of Kawia : it belongs to the same order as 
the teak, and seems to require the sea air, the leaf is glossy ; 
the flower much like the anterhinum ; the wood is of a dark 
olive brown color, very close grained and heavy ; it is ex- 
tremely durable, and can only be worked when green; posts 
nearly forty years in the ground have been found as fresh as 
when first put in; this valuable timber is generally much 
pierced by the grub of a large cerambix. 
Fam. Nolanacece. — ( Dicondra repens). 
Fam. Moreacece. — ( Broussonetia papyrifera). 
Fam. Eupatoriceoe. — Pukapuka (. Brachyglotis repanda ,) a 
handsome shrub ; the leaves are very large and white under- 
neath ; when the natives first saw paper, they compared it to 
these leaves, and hence both it and books in general are 
called puka puka. Warangi , ( — rani, — rotundifolia.) 
Fam. Juncacece. — Kowarawara ( astelia Banksi/i). It grows 
as an epiphyte, and also in swampy places. Luzula picta , 
astelia solandri, juncusmaritimus, — effusus — - filiformis ) . 
Fam. Aracece. — Taro ( calidium esculentum). This plant 
was introduced by the natives when they first came ; it is 
cultivated as an article of food. 
Fam. Typhaceoe. — j Raupo (typha augustifolio) . 
Fam. Nymphceacece. A beautiful white water lily, recently 
discovered in the Middle Island. 
Fam. Juncaginacoe. — ( Triglochin Jlaccidum) . 
Fam. Naiadacece. — ( Potamogeton natans .) 
Fam. Graminacece. — ( Agrostis crinita, — ovata , — rigida , — 
procera, — conspicua, — cemula , — Billiardieri — Forsteri , — pi- 
losa,) patiti, ( Phalaris canariensis, Danthonia pallida, Bromus 
Australis, Schenodorus littoralis , Triticum scabrum, — repens , 
Poa Australis, — imbecilla , — ccespitosa , — Paspalum orbiculure, 
Rottboellia uniflora ,) moa , (spinifex sericeus , — with a prickly 
ball of flowers, — arena antarlica,) kakaho, toetoe, ( arundo 
