The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 66
Order—Myrtaceæ. — Genus—Leptospermum, Forst
Order— Myrtaceæ.
Genus— Leptospermum, Forst.
Leptospermum scoparium, Forst.
Kahikatoa, Tea-tree of Cook.—It is ornamental, and useful for fuel and fencing; generally a small shrub, but occasionally 20ft, in height in the South. Abundant throughout the Islands.
Leptospermum ericoides, A. Rich.
Manuka.—A slender tree, 10ft. to 80ft. high, highly ornamental, more especially when young. The timber can be had 28ft. to 30ft. long, 14in. in diameter at the butt, and 10in. at the small end. The wood is hard and dark-coloured, largely used at present for fuel and fencing, axe-handles and sheaves of blocks, and formerly by the Natives for spears and paddles. The old timber, from its dark-coloured markings, might be used with advantage in cabinet-work, and its great durability might recommend it for many other purposes. Highly valued in Otago for jetty and wharf piles, as it resists the marine worm better than any other timber found in the district. It is extensively used for house-piles. The lightest-coloured wood, called "white manuka," is considered the toughest, and forms an excellent substitute for the "hornbeam" in the cogs of large spur-wheels. It is abundant as a shrub, and is found usually on the poorest soils, but is rare as a tree in large tracts to the exclusion of other trees.