Re: Coast Redwood - Sequoia sempervirens - or Sequoiadendron giganteum the Giant Redwood ..... Kauri trees , was: Logging trees

william evans wrote:

 > I know of another that grew to 40' in 3 years. It was in a deep
 > well-drained hillside soil w/ abundant groundwater.
 >
 > Give them 50 years and they could reach 100 feet.

I though you folks might also like the vital statistics of Kauri and
this is what I found.

As I think I already mentioned Kauri belongs to the genus Agathis which
is a member of the very ancient family Araucariaceae. This genus
apparently is old enough to have started in the temperate rainforests
of ancient Gonwanaland and is still represented by a variety of species
throughout the southern Pacific.

Compared with Redwoods and the taller Eucalypts even the biggest Kauri
species are not in fact very tall trees, rarely reaching more than 180
feet (in the case of A. robusta the Queensland Kauri) or 150ft for our
NZ species (A. australis), but this comparatively squat habit is offset
by remarkable girth in mature trees (up to 50 feet for NZ Kauri, rather less for the taller Queensland species). Apropos of the early exploitation of this timber in NZ I have seen it estimated one forest monster could provide enough timber to build up to twelve average houses.

Because of this apparently endless reservoir of fine timber (and the
timber is indeed very fine) there was for many years sadly wasteful
exploitation of the wood, using it not only for panelling and other
exposed woodwork, for which it was highly suited, but for such lowly
tasks as framing and roof shingles, which was a horrible waste of its
superior qualities (not to mention probably a lot of the usable branches just going up in smoke..).

Today the situation is quite the reverse; with the minuscule supply of
new timber entering the market the taking down of any historic home
where Kauri was the timber used now creates a feeding frenzy among the
local timber-working fraternity, the well-seasoned timber being in
particular demand for making fine furniture and for wood carving.

As to the growth patterns. Young cultivated trees can apparently under
the most favourable conditions put on 6-8 ft of growth in their first
year, though most nursery stock would not do nearly as well as this. Trees do not happily stand much frost especially when young, but seem to do all right in the milder areas at least as far south as Wellington. They can be established quite well, if rather slowly, in Wainui for instance especially if one starts with an already sizeable and sturdy transpant. I know of several already robust-looking youngsters ten to fifteen feet high (including one just down our street) which have been planted in about the last twenty years. There was a specimen on our next-but-one neighbour's boundary which was until a few years ago doing particularly well, but when a new incumbent took over the property its roots were already doing damage to the expensive long concrete drive, so regretfully he decided to remove it. I don't know if it might have been possible to transplant it, but he was evidently not game to try.

The young trees do seem to concentrate on putting on height rather than girth for at least the first hundred and fifty years (which is about as long as any deliberately planted specimens have been around). Many in public places around this age are maybe up to thirty feet or more tall, but still of relatively slender girth. One suspects that the obesity only comes after they have achieved the major part of their ultimate height (which I guess could take several hundred years). It is not surprising that quite a few suburbanites with small gardens are happy to plant them and to reckon that problems of size are not likely to trouble them at least!.

One final point of interest, mature trees are not only characterized by huge girth but by a very long stretch of smooth trunk below the well-branched crown. This naturally clear trunk (which is one of the tree's specially desirable features to the timber trade) is due to a very definite pattern of the lower side branches being shed before they are much more than 2-3 inches in diameter. Without any human interference they regularly abciss and fall off until presumably an appropriate height is reached, when the pattern changes and remaining branches are not only retained but develop a characteristically upright style of growth so the mature tree often looks bit as though reaching for the sky. These branches often attain huge size, as big as the main trunks of many lesser timber trees.

Like your Redwoods I think, our Kauri trees tend to be viewed as national Ikons. In the last reaming patch of Kauri forest stands one particularly famous tree, the largest remaining so it is thought, known as Tane Mahuta (loosely translated as The Lord of the Forest) he still has a way to go before he attains the bulk of the largest of his slain brethren, but he is already a good 135 feet high and of a fair girth. A special path leads into him from the road and he has his own visiting book! (or did when we paid our own respects some years ago). At that time one could walk all round him on the path provided, but a while ago it was found that his roots were beginning to suffer from compression by vast numbers of tramping visitor feet and a raised deck has been built to accommodate the traffic and ease his foot problems.

One particular thing I noticed about visiting this huge tree was the effect its height had on me. I really felt quite overwhelmed, especially when viewing it close to, and had the feeling I wanted to lie down on the ground to take it in properly. I guess this might be even more marked with a large Redwood.

Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ.     Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
NEW PICTURES ADDED 4/Feb/2004


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