trunk of from 8 to 18 feet in length, with a circum¬ ference of 6 to 9 feet, and an overpowering weight of robust branches. The foliage is a deeply-veined, plainedged, light-green leaf, 2 inches in breadth by 3 inches in length. It flowers nearly all the year round, and is especially full in September; the flowers are of a deep red colour, and somewhat bell-shaped. The fruit, which is like a cherry, is a favourite food of the wood-pigeon. The Puriri tree yields timber 9 to 18 feet in length, and 10 to 18 inches square. The bark is thin, smooth, and greyish-white in colour. The wood is dark brown, extremely hard, heavy, close-grained, and generally free from defects, the exception being that it is liable to some slight injury during growth from a worm, which bores it from the roots upwards, leaving a clean hole of from ½ to ⅝ths of an inch diameter. The alburnum or sap-wood on this tree is generally from 2 to 3 inches thick, and of a yellowish colour.
This timber is very durable, and suitable for the frames of ships, and also for many other purposes where hard, short, curved wood is required. Specimen logs were brought to England to be used experimentally in ship-building. The specific gravity of Puriri in a green state is about 1100, and when seasoned it is nearly 1000.
The Kauri, Kahikatea, Tanakaha, Rimu, Miro, Totara, Rata, Pohutukawa, and Puriri trees are the principal, and, except the Kahikatea, probably the most valuable of all that can be found in New Zealand. Still there are many other varieties, about thirty, some ten or twelve of which could be made available for building and cabinet purposes; the remainder would be more or less useful for the manufacture of agricultural implements, fuel. &c.. &c.
