902 FAGUS CLIFFORTIOIDES. 
species in strength, but is not generally durable. Young trees 1 ass. f 
telegraph-poles proceeds) in the Waimakariri country showed a great | 
this respect: if in dry soil they perished in five or six years, but in, . 
remained sound for a much longer period ; and similar results are ex 
it is used for wire-fence posts. <A large sleeper at the iets ah ; r 
It is often ms el qhareaies with satisfactory teenie Old esaee ‘ti 
are frequently swept into mountain-streams in situations where ie: be 
fixed amongst rocks and boulders, often remaining for years subject to 
tions of wet and dry: under this severe test the sapwood quickly decz 
the outer cylinder of heartwood becomes furrowed; but the lapse of ti 
serves to harden it, and after years of exposure it rings like metal: logs h 
in this manner would probably endure for centuries when worked up, but y ou 
be difficult of conversion. It is almost superfluous to remark that imn 
trees decay in two or three years at most, but the timbers capable of endur 
under such trying conditions for pai lenerhened aaa are pee indeed. 
portance from an economic point pa view: in some parts of the South 
it is the only timber to be found at altitudes above 2,500ft., while its ben 
effects on climate and in the prevention of landslips cannot be overrated, 
destruction of the forests of mountain-beech on the western slopes 
Southern Alps would quickly be followed by the destruction of extensive 
of lowland country, and the entire district would be rendered practical 
habitable. The mountain-beech is easily cultivated, and would prove | 4 
value to the landscape gardener. 
DiIsTRIBUTION OF THE GENUS. 
See under Fagus Solandri, p. 91, ante. 
DisTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES. | 
In all probability Fagus cliffortioides attains its northern limit ne 
Waikare, in the East Cape district: it is plentiful on the upper portior 
Kaimanawa and Ruahine Mountains, and is found on Tongariro, Ngaur 
Ruapehu, and other mountains in the centre of the North Island, also along 
crest of Tararua and Rimutaka Ranges nearly to Cook Strait ; but is much I 
abundant on the mountains of ths: South Island, from Nelson to So 
attaining the extreme limit of arboreal vegetation at about 4,000ft., its 
limit often forming a straight line at that elevation along entire he cis 
isolated trees may occasionally be found in sheltered places up to 4,8c 
descends to the sea-level in several localities on the west coast of the ot 
Island, as at Preservation Inlet, Dusky Bay, &c. 
It has not been observed on Stewart Island. 1. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Fagus cliffortioides, Hook. f., ‘“‘ Icones Plantarum,” it. 6 673, 
S16B. : 
A small tree, 2oft. to 5oft. high, with a trunk rft. to aft. ir . diameter % 
less. Leaves coriaceous, shortly petioled, unequally rounded at the base, ovat 
or oblong-ovate, acute or sub- -acute, jin. to Zin. long , minutely pt inctat 
clothed with white appressed hairs beneath. Ploweeee Male, s soli car 
perianth shortly peduncled, membranous; stamens, eight to 1 ae 
Female, solitary, cupule three-lobed, each lobe with two membr an hal 
