5. F. Solandri, Hook. f. in Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 639.—A lofty forest-tree 40–80 ft. high; trunk 2–5 ft. diam.; bark black and furrowed on old trees, pale and smooth on young ones; branchlets closely pubescent. Leaves evergreen, shortly petiolate, ¼–¾ in. long, linear-oblong to elliptic-oblong, obtuse, cuneate and usually unequal-sided at the base, quite entire, coriaceous, glabrous and reticulated above, clothed with appressed greyish-white pubescence beneath, margins recurved; stipules membranous, caducous. Male flowers axillary, either solitary or 2–3 on a short common peduncle. Perianth broad and shallow, cup-shaped, shortly 4–5-toothed. Stamens 8–15. Female involucres solitary in the upper axils, sessile, 2–3-flowered. Fruiting involucres ¼ in. long, ovoid, glabrous or pubescent, usually 3-lobed; lobes with three membranous transverse lamellæ. Nuts 2–3-winged, broad at the base, narrowed above.—Raoul, Choix, 42; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 230; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 250; Kirk, Forest Fl. t. 56. Nothofagus Solanderi, Oerst. in Vidensk. Selsk. Skr. v. ix. (1873) 355.
North and South Islands: Forests from the East Cape to the south of Otago, usually in hilly or mountain districts. Sea-level to 2500 ft. Tawhai; Tawhai-raitriki; Black-birch; White-birch. November–December.
Wood pale-red, often streaked with black, not durable unless taken from fully mature trees. Young trees often have the leaves distichously arranged, with the under-surface glabrous or nearly so.
6. F. cliffortioides, Hook. f. in Hook. Ic. Plant. t. 673 and t. 816b.—A small tree, usually from 20 ft. to 40 ft. high, rarely more, with a trunk 1–2 ft. diam., in alpine localities often dwarfed into a much-branched bush 5–12 ft. high. Branches spreading, often distichous, especially in young trees; branchlets densely pubescent. Leaves shortly petiolate, distichous, ⅙–⅔ in. long, ovate-oblong or ovate or ovate-orbicular, acute or subacute, rarely obtuse, always broadest at the unequally rounded or almost cordate base, quite entire, very coriaceous, glabrous and reticulated above, more or less clothed with greyish-white appressed hairs beneath; margins thickened, often recurved; stipules membranous, caducous. Male flowers axillary, solitary or in pairs on very short peduncles, often very abundantly produced. Perianth broad, cup -shaped, shortly 4–5-toothed. Stamens 8–15. Female involucres solitary and sessile in the upper axils, 2–3-flowered. Fruiting involucres ⅙–¼ in. long, ovoid, pubescent, 3-lobed; lobes with two or three transverse fringed lamellae. Nuts 2–3-winged, ovoid, acute.—Raoul, Choix, 42; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 230; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 250; Kirk, Forest Fl. tt. 101, 101a. Nothofagus cliffortioides, Oerst. in Vidensk. Sellsk. Skr. v. ix. (1873) 355.
North Island: Mountain districts from the East Cape and Tongariro southwards. South Island: Abundant in the mountains throughout, usually forming the greater portion of the subalpine forests. Altitudinal range from 2000 ft. to 4500 ft., but descending to sea-level in the sounds on the south-west coast of Otago. Tawhai-rauriki; Mountain Beech or Birch. December–January.
