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some tree with dark green leaves bearing flower and berry at the same time. Puriri timber is regarded as the best in New Zealand for fencing purposes, as it keeps sound in the ground for an indefinite period. The timber is also used for furniture and fancy work, taking on a good polish, and somewhat resembling walnut. Puriri does not grow like Kauri or Totara, being often short in the bole, and inclined to branch. It splits well, and is used for railway sleepers. Puriri will soon be all used up.
Miro is a fairly large tree resembling Black Pine. It is more plentiful in the North Island than in the South.
There were at one time only three Miro trees in Pigeon Bay, and one of them still survives. In Port Levy there were more than in all the rest of the Peninsula. The fruit is a large red berry, which, ripening early in the autumn, enabled the pigeons to commence to fatten before the other berries matured. The foliage of the Miro is very handsome, but the timber is practically useless.
Rumaruma, or Ironwood, is a small tree growing very hard and heavy timber useful for rails in fencing, and also for firewood.
