BOTANY. 
449 
Myrtacece. —This family, although less numerous in genera, 
yet possesses some of a very general distribution, and others 
which form some of the most beautiful and useful trees. 
KahiJcatoa, manuka, (Leptospernum scopiarum.) This is a 
beautiful tree, the leaf is small, but aromatic, the flowers white, 
and very abundant; it produces both flowers and fruit when 
only a few inches high, and yet attains the size of a large 
timber-tree, when it ceases to flower and seed so freely.— 
( L — ericoides.) 
Aka, (metrosideros buxifolia,) a climbing plant, bearing a 
beautiful red flower ; the stem is very strong and durable ; it 
is used for tying up fences, and the timbers of houses ; it has a 
myrtle-shaped leaf. A variety of this bears a white flower. 
(— perforata).—Rata (— robusta). This also bears a bright 
red flower, and in such quantities as to give the tree the 
appearance of being a red one at a distance. The rata is at 
first a climber ; it throws out feelers or tentacles, by which it 
holds on to the tree it clings to ; eventually it becomes a very 
large timber-tree, and kills the kind friend of its early days; 
it is often seen clasping the dead trunk of its former supporter 
after it has rotted away, and become separated from the ground, 
which gives it a very singular appearance. The rata becomes 
a noble tree ; its aerial roots then disappear, and it overtops 
most of the trees of the forest; its head is very thick, its leaf 
like the myrtle, but not so pointed, its timber is very hard, 
tough, and of a dark red ; it is valuable in ship-building and 
for carts. 
Pohutukaua (M — tomentosa). This is a very ornamental 
tree ; it only grows in the north end of the island, amongst 
the rocky cliffs on the sea shore ; its leaves are large, thick, 
of greenish blue externally, and white underneath. It is not 
found inland, except on the little islands in the central lakes; 
the trunk is knarled, and twisted in every direction, the wood 
is extremely hard, and of a dark red; it is chiefly used for 
ships and knees of boats; it is fine fuel, and so generally used 
for this purpose, that soon this chief ornament of the northern 
shores of New Zealand will scarcely be met with ; it is not 
found further south than a few miles beyond the Mokau. 
G G 
