. Plants of New Zealand. n ancient?one, related to the Auracarias (Monkey Puzzle, etc.) Key to the Genera. Fruit a cone. •2 Fruit a nut or drupe. 3 Leaves oblong. Cone large, of many over- lai)])ing scales. Agathis, p. 60. Leaves small. Cone of few, erect, woody scales. Libocedrus, p. 66. Fruit a drupe, on fleshy, scarlet peduncle. Podocarpus, p. 68. Fruit a nut in a fleshy cup. 4 Stems flattened into fan-shaped phylloclades. Phyllocladus, p 76. Leaves linear or scale-like. Dacrydium, p. 74. Genus Agathis. This genus is fomid only in Australia, New Zealand, the Malayan and FijiIslands, New Heb
. Plants of New Zealand. n ancient?one, related to the Auracarias (Monkey Puzzle, etc.) Key to the Genera. Fruit a cone. •2 Fruit a nut or drupe. 3 Leaves oblong. Cone large, of many over- lai)])ing scales. Agathis, p. 60. Leaves small. Cone of few, erect, woody scales. Libocedrus, p. 66. Fruit a drupe, on fleshy, scarlet peduncle. Podocarpus, p. 68. Fruit a nut in a fleshy cup. 4 Stems flattened into fan-shaped phylloclades. Phyllocladus, p 76. Leaves linear or scale-like. Dacrydium, p. 74. Genus Agathis. This genus is fomid only in Australia, New Zealand, the Malayan and FijiIslands, New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. Leaves flat, broad, parallel-veined ;ovule solitary. Seed winged. Agathis orientalis of the East Indies is remarkablefor the quantity of valuable resin (Dammar) which it produces. (Name from theOreek meaning a ball of thread, in allusion to the nearly spherical cone). 1 sp.* *The number of species from New Zealand and the outlying islands recorded in•Cheesemans Handbook. THE PINE FAMILY 61. Fig. 6. Kauri Bush 62 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND Agathis australis. The Kauri Pine is one of the most magnificent timber treesknown, but it is unfortunately fast disappearing under theonslaughts of bush fires and needy colonists. Nor arenew plantations formed, as is the case with many other trees,for the kauri is of such slow growth, that no man thinks itworth his while to plant trees which take a thousand yearsto mature. A kauri forest is a wonderful sight, with theclean, erect stems rising like grey columns to a height offrom 80 to 100 feet,—sometimes 60 or 70 feet without throwingout a branch. The bark is thick and lead-coloured, andpeels off in heavy flakes. The ashy hue of the barkappears under certain atmospheric conditions to surroundthe trunks with an undefined haze. Though from 80 to100 feet is the usual height of the forest kauri, trees havebeen found 150 feet high. There is a specimen at MercuryBay, which is 80 feet to the lowest branch, and 24 feet indi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectplants, bookyear1906
