XXXVIII.] 
VARIOUS. 
3ii 
in New Zealand. It prefers an exposed situation to any 
other, and requires but little soil for its nourishment. 
The bark is ragged in appearance, thick, reddish-grey 
in colour, and yields a good brown dye. The tree is very 
hardy, attains moderate dimensions, is crooked, misshapen, 
and branchy, with not more than 10 to 18 feet in length 
of clear stem. It has a thick foliage of dark green 
glossy leaves of about inch in width by 2 inches in 
length, and in December puts forth quite a covering of 
large crimson polyandrous flowers. 
The Pohutukawa tree yields timber 9 to 16 inches 
square, and 10 to 20 feet in length. The wood is red in 
colour, hard, strong, heavy, and close-grained. In form 
and quality it is admirably well adapted for the frames 
of ships, or any other purpose where curved timber is 
required. The natives speak of it as being very 
durable. 
Specimen logs of this compass timber were brought 
to England in 1843, and placed in store at Chatham 
Dockyard, for use experimentally in ship-building, and 
in 1869— i.e., twenty-six years later—two or three pieces 
were still there in a perfectly sound state. The specific 
gravity of Pohutukawa, green or fresh cut, is about 1200, 
but after seasoning it is only about 858. 
THE - PURIRI TREE (Vitex littoralis) 
is common to nearly all the forests of New Zealand, and 
flourishes in almost any situation, but the best trees are 
those grown on a rich soil, and sheltered from strong 
winds. 
The stems of these trees vary from straight to every 
imaginable form of curved growth, and are seldom seen 
standing erect. Usually they have a short clear bole or 
