ENTELEA ARBORESCENS, R. Brown. 
THE WHAU, 
Orper—TILIACEA. 
(Plate XX XIII.) 
Tue whau, or, as Mr. Colenso informs me it is sometimes termed by the Maoris, 
the Hanna, is the only representative of its genus, and was discovered by Banks 
and Sobundes who gave it the name of a us Sloanoides ; but owing to their 
MSS. and dawns being inedited it was first described by Robert Brown in 
“The Botanical Magazine” under the name of Entelea arborescens. It is termed 
-cork-wood by the settlers on account of its light specific gravity : the weight of 
~some specimens scarcely exceeds one-half the weight of a piece of cork of equal 
bulk. 
This handsome plant forms a much-branched shrub or small tree, sometimes 
25ft. high, with a trunk from gin. to gin. in diameter. The foliage and flowers 
are striking and attractive, presenting an appearance widely different from that 
of any other native plant. The young shoots and leaves beneath are covered 
with a fine white down, the leaves being of a soft deep-green above, and in outline 
bearing some resemblance to those of the black mulberry: they are sometimes 
gin. in length, including the petiole, which varies from lin. to 3in., and are 
furnished at the base with a pair of narrow stipules. The blade is drooping, 
.produced into a rounded lobe on each side of the base, and is narrowed into a 
long point at the apex. It varies from 2in. to 6in. in breadth, and the margin is 
cut into a vast number of small irregular blunt teeth or crenatures. The flowers 
are developed in panicles or cymes, on very long stalks, springing from the axils 
of the uppermost leaves: the branches of the inflorescence, the pedicels, and the 
narrow bracteoles are white with fine down. The large flowers are snowy-white ; 
the petals present a wrinkled appearance, and the stamens are very numerous. 
The fruit is very singular, about in. in diameter, and clothed with hard brittle 
spines, sometimes an inch long, so that it bears some resemblance to a small 
Spanish. chestnut. Itis from five- to seven-celled, each cell containing numerous 
seeds. rs 
Owing to the progress of settlement, and the practice of setting fire to the 
scrub growing on the open land, the whau has become comparatively rare in 
many northern districts where it was plentiful within the last fifteen years, and, 
although there is no reason to anticipate its extinction, there can be no doubt 
that in another fifteen years it will become extremely rare, and practically con- 
fined to situations inaccessible to sheep and cattle. 
The whau is easily raised from seed, and may be cultivated without difficulty 
in situations sufficiently sheltered to prevent injury from frost. 
PROPERTIES AND UsSEs. 
The wood is porous, very open in the grain, and of rather uneven texture. 
It is one of the lightest woods known, its weight per cubic foot varying from 
8:2glb. to 11°76lb. It is chiefly used by the Maoris for floats of fishing-nets, 
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