MYOPORUM LATUM , Banks and Solander. 
THE NGAIO. 
OrpeEr—MYOPORINES. 
(Plate CXXIV.) 
Tue ngaio forms a shrub or small tree, from 1oft. to 3o0ft. high, with a trunk tft. 
or more in diameter, clothed with brown bark, which is deeply furrowed in old 
specimens. It varies considerably in habit, sometimes exhibiting a much- 
branched spreading head; at others the branches are short from base to apex, 
_and the head comparatively narrow. Although not restricted to the coast it 
exhibits a marked partiality for littoral situations, or for old sea-basins, as in the 
valley of the Rangitikei, where it sometimes occurs in abundance and of large 
dimensions, often presenting a picturesque appearance, and imparting a park-like 
character to the scenery. 
The branches are rather stout, slightly viscid at the tips, and, with the 
leaves, are destitute of hairs: the leaves are alternate, from tin. to 4in. in length 
and from gin, to 13in. broad; they are acute at the apex, and narrowed at the 
base into a short stout leaf-stalk; they are thickly studded with translucent oil- 
glands, and the margins of the upper part of the leaf are cut into small sharp 
teeth. 
The flowers are produced in clusters of from two to six, springing from the 
axils of the leaves, and carried on flower-stalks from Hin. to #in. in length; the 
calyx is small, and divided at the margin into five sharp teeth: the corolla is 
bell-shaped, about jin. broad, the upper portion being divided into five rounded 
spreading lobes, the two uppermost being rather shorter than the others: four 
short stamens are inserted in the throat of the corolla: the ovary is four-celled. 
Fruit din. to din. long, reddish-purple, with a pulpy outer layer; nut hard and 
bony, four-celled, usually with a single seed in each cell. 
The corolla is white, with purple dots and markings on the lobes; both the 
tube and lobes are clothed with short stiff shaggy hairs. 
The translucent glands are not confined to the cellular tissue of the leaf, but 
occur also in the mid-rib and secondary nerves, in the epidermis of the branches, 
and even in the pith. 
PROPERTIES AND UskEs. 
The wood of the ngaio is of a dark-brown colour with black streaks and 
veins, which are often broad and form an irregular figure: it is dense, heavy, 
hard, and durable. 
Some specimens are very attractive, and are valued for cabinet-work, orna- 
mental turnery, and similar purposes. It is also valued for fence-posts, rails, 
&c., on account of its great durability. Unfortunately in many localities it does 
not attain large dimensions. 
The Maoris wash their faces and the exposed portions of their bodies with 
an infusion of the leaves to prevent the bites of mosquitoes and sandflies. The 
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