266 METROSIDEROS ROBUSTA. 
to which the roadw: Q position: section 
No. 1 was quite hard and sound; section No. 2 showed signs of partial decay 
and softening where a crack gave access to water, but still retained a good propor- 
tion of sound wood. It is not easy to understand the cause of its value in 
constructive works having been so long ignored. Logs from 2oft. to 5oft. long, 
and from 12in.xX1I2in, to 48in.x48in., could be obtained in large quantities, 
and would afford remunerative employment to settlers in felling, hewing, and 
hauling to the nearest railway-station or shipping-place. 
It is of great value for wheelwrights’ stuff; spokes, felloes, and hubs could 
be obtained in any quantity, and of quality superior to much of the imported 
Australian wood. It is highly valued for firewood, and would be one of the 
best timbers for use on railway locomotives: if utilised for this purpose on the 
Taranaki railways it could probably be obtained for little more than the cost of 
cutting; its utilisation would prove of material assistance to the struggling 
settler. 
Hundreds of acres of this timber are destroyed by fire every year in various 
parts of the North Island, and in the Aorere district, Nelson. On account of its 
great hardness and the small demand for the converted timber, it is rarely felled 
by the settlers; the undergrowth is felled and burnt, scorching the rata and 
killing it, but the trunks stand for years afterwards. If its value for wheel- 
wrights’ work and for bridge-building, &c., were better known, a large portion of 
ous wasted timber would ‘be utilised, and the position of many settlers with 
small means would be greatly Pap ree: 
The leaves are charged with an essential oil, which in all probability 
possesses medicinal value, but at present it has not been tested. 
It is of great value for the shrubbery, as, under cultivation, 1t commences to 
flower when from 6ft. to oft. high: small specimens may be seen in flower in 
the Colonial Botanical Garden, Wellington, as well as in private g pardets near 
Wellington and other places. 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES. 
Metrosideros robusta is found in the North Cape district and generally 
throughout the North Island to Cook Strait. It is less plentiful in the South 
Island, being confined to the Districts of Marlborough, Nelson, and Westland: 
it is extremely rare in Marlborough, but plentiful in various localities in Nelson, 
and attains its extreme southern limit between Greymouth and Hokitika. 
It ascends from the sea-level to nearly 3,o00ft. 
Its distribution is very unequal: it is plentiful in the Kaipara and many 
other districts of the North Island, but rarely forms any large portion of the 
forest, chiefly occurring as single specimens, frequently of very eee dimensions : i 
it is plentiful on the Great Barrier Island, but only a solitary specimen is found 
on the Kawau. In many parts of the Taranaki District it forms the chief 
portion of the forest, and occurs in equal abundance in a few localities in the 
Wellington District, also in some portions of the Aorere Valley in the South 
Island, where, however, it is of smaller dimensions. ‘ 
DESCRIPTION. 
Metrosideros robusta, A. Cunn. 
M. florida, Hook., ‘‘ Botanical Magazine,” t. 4,471 (not of Smith). 
An evergreen tree, epiphytic or terrestrial, but never scandent, 5o0ft. to 10oft. 
high; trunk often irregular, 2ft. to 12ft. or even 22ft. in diameter. Branchlets 
short, angular, paneealats Leaves decussate, 13in. long; petioles pubescent or 
