NATURE NOTES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22344, 15 February 1936, Page 1 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES

BY R. A. FALLA

SECONDARY TIMBER .TREES

Referring some weeks ago to the frequency with which the grub of the large ghost moth attacks the heartwood of the puriri tree, I remarked that the timber of the puriri was now little used as compared with formerly. Having no first-hand knowledge of the matter I had taken as my authority for this statement, the following sentence published in 1928 by the late Dr. L. Cockayne and Mr. E. Phillips Turner, then Director of Forestry: "It has been so much used for railway sleepers, posts and house blocks that the supply is now almost exhausted." This impression is corrected, however, by Mr. A. McCoil, organiser for the North Auckland Sawmillers' Association, who writes: " Most of the mills in this association are cutting puriri and one large mill exclusively for the Government. There is a big demand for this timber and mills cannot supply the orders quickly enough. We have also opened markets for taraire, kohekohe, rata, pukatea.towai, hinau, wharangi, manoao, mangeao, rewarewa, toro, maire, etc." There are some names in this list that may be unfamiliar to a few readers; other readers may know the trees but not have associated them with commercial timbers.

It was usual in the early days of settlement in New Zealand to assign some particular value or use to the wood of any native tree that grew, to greater dimensions than a shrub. The pioneer settler found by experience those that were best suited to his particular needs when he was dependent on the natural products of the forest for material for his house, furniture, firewood, and even tools and implements. With increasing prosperity and leisure the more ingenious and industrious began to experiment with native woods for ornamental purposes, and panels and inlaid work of wonderful variety were common. Changing tastes and fashions and a concentration on milling of the more profitable primary timbers put the secondary timbers into the background for many vears, but a revival of interest in them would now seem to be indicated. A few of the most valuable are confined to North Auckland, and Mr. McColl s list must be taken as applying chiefly to that district.

The range of puriri extends to Hawke's Bay and Taranaki, but it is not abundant south of the parallel of latitude 37 degrees, which passes a few miles south of the city of Auckland. This tree is well known as an ornamental, being easily grown and attaining a fair size rapidly. Its darK. green glossy leaves give it a permanently handsome appearance and set oil admirably the dull rose-coloured flowers and bright red fruit. The vitality of the tree is such that flowering ancl fruiting is almost continuous throughout the year. When used ornamentally it will also stand well the cutting back that is found necessary in some places to protect adjacent power wires and telegraph lines. Under forest conditions the puriri may attain massive proportions, but is often irregular in growth and gnarled" in appearance; it is liable also to heart-rot, due primarily to the boring activities of the few insect larvae that can tackle the interlaced fibres ot its grain. Its flowers and fruit do not seem particularly attractive to birds, but the former are a stand-by for white eyes and the latter for wood pigeons when other flowers and fruits are out of season. The wide use of the timber for heavy structural work is no longer possible owing to depletion of the standing stock, but it is still much in demand in the making of furniture. Puriri somewhat resembles teak, to which it is related.

Another timber of value for furni-ture-making is koliekohe. It is sometimes called " cedar," but does not belong to that family; as a timber it most resembles Honduras mahogany. The range of the tree includes the coastal districts of the North Island and Marlborough. It is something like puriri in appearance, but the leaves are larger and lighter green and the panicles of waxy flowers spring out from unexpected places on the bare "trunk of the tree; the fruit is a conspicuous preen capsule which opens when npe to disclose brilliant scarlet seeds embedded in its cells.

There is not space to list the qualities and virtues of all the timbers in Mr. McColl's list. Taraire, with the same range of distribution as puriri, has been likened to oak, which it - resembles in grain, and has been much used for furniture and picture-mouldings; an extension of its uses to include flooring and interior finish has been recommended. It will be observed that a similarity in timber quality between two trees does not necessarily indicate botanical relationship, kohelcohe not being a true cedar nor taraire an oak. Similarly mangeao, which belongs to the laurel family, produces a timber very similar to ash, and of use for the body work of vehicles or for ships' rigging blocks. Many of these secondary timbers with specialised uses are confined to the North Island, and their widespread destruction during milling operations for the primary softwoods has reduced tho available supply. It is to be hoped that any revival of milling activity will go hand in hand with wise provision for regeneration and perhaps replanting in as many areas as possible. The South Island, as a compensation for its smaller variety of secondary timbers, has the largest stands of the native beeches, for the timber of many of which a growing market has been predicted. In the State Forest publication, " The Trees of New Zealand," quoted at the beginning of this article, the authors state: The timber of Nothofagus is slowly, but surely, coming into its own, and there can be little, if any, doubt that in her beech forests New Zealand possesses a source of perennial wealth, since all the species regenerate freely and fairly rapidly after milling, and this operation need not spell destruction as in the case of rainforest proner." The silver beech has been milled extensively in Southland for half a century and the use of the timber gradually extended from New Zealand to overseas. Properly seasoned it is excellent for most work requiring wood that is light, tough and elastic, and a short timo ago the demand from America, for beech for motor-body work exceeded the whole available seasoned supply.

A beetle has been sent by Mr. 0. R. Slomfield, of Te Awamutu, for identification. This creature is a large water-beetle, showing all the remarkable adaptations to aquatic life for which tna family Dytiscidae is noted. It has a dark brown, almost oval stream-lined body one inch long, and its hind lees, used as paddles, are much flattened. When under water, where they spend most of their lives, they keep the upper wing cases closed, imprisoning air for breathing. Out of water they are capable of strong flight, using the gauzy under-wings, and make use of this capacity to escape from a dried-up pond or to fly from one waterhole to another,