I$] 
FAGUS FUSCA. 8it 
According to Mr. Blair, the weight per cubic foot in the green state ranges 
from 39°620lb. to 68'goglb. ; when seasoned, from 34°124lb. to 40°6481b. Boards 
t2in. wide and sin. thick shrank from o-g2in. to r*I7in. in seasoning.* , 
It is worthy of remark that specimens of even the lowest specific etavity 
exhibit great durability. The planking of the old wharf at Picton is tooth- 
leaved beech, and scarcely heavier than totara, but has resisted wear and tear 
for twenty-one years, and is still in good condition. 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES. 
Fagus fusca is endemic in New Zealand, and attains its extreme northern 
limit at Ahipara, from whence it extends to Southland, but is somewhat 
unevenly distributed. North of the Auckland Isthmus it is found in clumps 
or patches rarely containing more than a few hundred trees, and is sometimes 
solitary. It has not been observed on the Great Barrier Island or other outlying 
islands, except the Kawau, where a few trees are found. It has been destroyed 
on the Thames Goldfield, but is found at Te Aroha, and sparingly on the west 
coast between the Waikato River and the sea. In Hawke’s Bay it forms forests 
often mixed with F. Solandvi and F. Menziesii: these extend in a more or less 
interrupted state along the slopes of the Tararua and Rimutaka Mountains to 
Cook Strait. It is plentiful in all districts of the South Island, except Can- 
terbury, where it is rare; a few trees are found on Banks Peninsula, and a 
remarkable belt exists at an elevation of between 2,o00ft. and 3,o0oft. between 
Bealey and the Poulter River, where it is mixed with F. cliffortioides. 
The forests of this species in mountain districts of Otago and Southland 
are of great extent and value: the trunks are of great length and perfectly 
straight, although small, rarely exceeding 3ft. in diameter. The quality is excel- 
lent, and much superior to the same species growing at Catlin’s River and the 
Blue Mountains. If properly conserved they will yield an enormous revenue to 
the colony a few years hence. 
Mr. Colenso, F.R.S., is of opinion that the northern trees at Whangarei, 
Ahipara, &c., belonging to a species at present undescribed. An examination 
of fruiting specimens collected at Whangarei does not enable me to confirm 
this opinion. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Fagus fusca, Hook. f. 
Hook., “ Icones Plantarum,” t. 630, 631. 
An evergreen moncecious tree, 80ft. to tooft. high. Branchlets and petioles 
pubescent. Leaves alternate; in the young state pubescent on the upper sur- 
face, glandular beneath, glabrous when old, stiff or sub-coriaceous, #in. to tlin. 
long, oblong-ovate or broadly ovate, cuneate at the base, acute or obtuse or 
apiculate, deeply serrate, teeth acute or obtuse or almost obsolete; stipules 
linear, deciduous. Male flowers axillary, solitary or in three- or four-flowered 
fascicles on a common peduncle; perianth membranous, downy, five-toothed ; 
stamens, eight to twelve, exserted. Female flowers axillary; involucral cup 
four-lobed, each cup with three or four transverse lamellz, margins entire or 
toothed; flowers, three or four, each with three stigmas. Fruit broadly ovate ; 
nuts, three or four, trigonous, glabrous; margins winged. 
Var. 8, Colenso:. (eaves almost coriaceous; teeth obtuse. 
Var. y, obsoleta. Leaves sub-membranous or coriaceous; margins slightly 
indented or sinuate. 
* Blair; Building Materials of Otago, p. 224. 
46 
