. Plants of New Zealand. for thebeauty of its leaf stalks, which are so enlarged and flattenedout as to present the appearance of true leaves. In shapethey are fan-like, and closely resemble the fronds of a maiden-hair fern. This curious metamorphosis of the leaf-stalksusually takes place in those plants which inhabit hot and aridregions. The female flower of this pine is borne upon the edges ofthe phylloclades, and the male flowers upon catkins at the tips ofthe branches. The seedling tanekaha bears long, narrowleaves, brownish-red above and green below, but these soonfall away, and the true
. Plants of New Zealand. for thebeauty of its leaf stalks, which are so enlarged and flattenedout as to present the appearance of true leaves. In shapethey are fan-like, and closely resemble the fronds of a maiden-hair fern. This curious metamorphosis of the leaf-stalksusually takes place in those plants which inhabit hot and aridregions. The female flower of this pine is borne upon the edges ofthe phylloclades, and the male flowers upon catkins at the tips ofthe branches. The seedling tanekaha bears long, narrowleaves, brownish-red above and green below, but these soonfall away, and the true leaves are seen only as small scales onthe ends of the branches. The fruit is a small, inconspicuousnut. The tree will grow to a height of sixty or seventy feet,and the timber is much valued for its strength and bark contains a large quantity of tannin, and a red dye isobtained from it which is sometimes used in the preparation ofkid for gloves. The tannic acid of the bark is a valuable THE PINE FAMILY 77. Vi<^. 1-2. A Spray of Rimu (nat. size I 78 PLANTS OP NEW ZEALAND astringent. The young saplings make excellent walkingsticks. If the stem, while growing, is bruised by some bluntinstrument, at regular intervals, the red dye contained in thebark stains the white wood, giving to the stick a beautifulmottled appearance. Phyllocladus alpinus (The Mountain Celery Pine or Toa-toa.)This tree, like PliijUocladus tricJiomanoides, produces notrue leaves, but only flattened twigs, which exercise all thefunctions of leaves. These, however, are very differentlyshaped from those of the lowland tanekaha. They areclustered heavily together at the ends of the branches, and arethick and fleshy, rather irregular in outline, and usually finely-toothed. The male catkins are found in clusters of from threeto seven at the tips of the branches. The female are incones, the ovules in fleshy cups of a bright crimson growth of this tree is rather curious. Thelower branches b
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectplants, bookyear1906
