Page:Reminiscences of Earliest Canterbury 1915.pdf/105

 pigeon. The tree grows up to three feet in diameter, but with a short barrel. It is very gnarled and twisted, and cannot be split. It will last in the ground for many years. The wood is generally white, but much of it is mottled in the grain, making beautiful furniture (especially picture-frames and fancy boxes). It is soft, and capable of a fine polish.

Ake-ake, a large family of flowering shrubs. The yellow and black varieties never attain a greater size than two feet in diameter. The timber is exceedingly hard and durable (somewhat like box). The Maoris make most of their war instruments from this wood. Ake-ake lasts well in the ground, and makes good firewood.

Kowhai—Akin to the laburnum. A leguminous tree with large, handsome flowers in drooping branches, of a yellow colour (there are scarlet varieties in the North Island), flowering in the South Island from July to September, and later in the North. The native birds (tuhi, makomako, etc.), feed largely on the flowers, dipping their long tongues into the nectaries. The timber is very hard and very useful, although the tree is seldom more than three feet through.