Page:Through South Westland.djvu/126

62 it begins life and lives for many years as a curious collection of right-angled twigs with a few small round leaves. These are, in the mature tree, arranged evenly, on a mid-rib several inches long, and hang gracefully from the upright branches. Everyone becomes familiar throughout the forest with straight lance-shafts that taper to a point, clothed by leathery brown leaves, often a foot long, which hang downwards against the shaft. The leaves are so tough, they hang thus for years, being added to only from the tip of the lance, and are but half an inch wide at most, though they have been measured forty-three inches long. For twenty years it may grow thus, till it is as many feet high. Then a gradual change occurs: branches grow out from the top, the leaves become shorter and cluster at the tips, at the same time turning a glossy dark green, till the tree bears a bushy head of foliage, with compound leaves of three to five leaflets. Now begins the flowering stage—they are greenish, and remind one a little of the hemlocks. This stage may continue for years, but it is not final. Once more the leaves become simple, four to six inches in length; and from now on, the tree assumes the habit of one of the smaller forest trees, reaching as much as sixty feet in height. It is really a species of aralia. The bush gains much in beauty from the many shrubs of this family, which is largely represented. They are noticeable usually for their large foliage,