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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 66

Genus—Podocarpus, L'Héritier

Genus—Podocarpus, L'Héritier.

Podocarpus ferruginea, Don.

Miro, Bastard Black-pine of Otago.—A large ornamental and useful timber tree; attains a height of 40ft. to 60ft., trunk 2ft. to 3ft. in diameter. A useful wood, but not so durable as the matai or true black-pine wood; reddish, close-grained, and brittle; the cross section of the timber shows the heartwood star-shaped and irregular. The timber is generally thought to be unfitted for piles and marine works, except when only partially exposed to the influence of sea-water, as shown in the railway embankment at Bluff Harbour, where it is reported to have been durable. Grows in the North and South Islands at altitudes below 1,000ft.

Podocarpus totara, A. Cunn.

Totara.—A lofty and spreading tree, 69ft. to 120ft. high, 4ft. to 10ft. in diameter, Wood very durable and clean-grained, in appearance like cedar, and works with equal freedom; it is adapted for every kind of carpenters' work. It is used extensively in Wellington for house-building and piles of marine wharves and bridges, and railway sleepers, and is one of the most valuable timbers known. The wood, if felled during the growing season, resists for a long time the attacks of toredo worms. It splits freely, and is durable as fencing and shingles. Totara post-and-rail fences are expected to last from forty to fifty years. The Maoris made their largest canoes from this tree, and the palisading of their pas consisted almost entirely of this wood. Grows throughout the North and South Islands upon both flat and hilly ground; the timber from trees grown on hills is found to be the most durable.

Podocarpus spicata, Br.

Matai, Mai, Black-pine of Otago.—A large tree, 80ft. high, trunk 2ft. to 4ft. in diameter. Wood yellowish, close-grained, and durable; used for a variety of purposes—piles for bridges, wharves, and jetties, bed-plates for machinery, millwrights' work, flooring, house-blocks, railway-sleepers, and fencing. Bridges in various parts of the colony afford proof of its durability. Mr. Buchanan has described a log of matai that he found had been exposed for at least two hundred years in a dense damp bush in North-East Valley, Dunedin, as proved by its being enfolded by the roots of three large page 101 trees of Griselinia littoralis, 3ft. 6in. in diameter, with over 300 growth rings. Grows in both North and South Islands at altitudes under 1,500ft.

Podocarpus dacrydioides, A. Rich.

Kahikatea, White-pine.—A very fine tree, 100ft. to 150ft. high; trunk 4ft. in diameter. Timber white and tough, soft, and well adapted for indoor work, but will not bear exposure. Abundant throughout the North and South Islands. When grown on dry soil it is good for the planks of small boats, but when from swamps it is almost useless. A variety of this tree, known as yellow-pine, is largely sawn in Nelson, and considered to be a durable building timber.