Kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides)
This 20 year-old stand of kahikatea was planted by the Tree Trust near the corner of Maclean and Taylor Streets. Kahikatea prefers wet swampy ground where it eventually grows large buttress roots entwined with those of adjacent trees, a sort of neighbourhood support group. In days gone by kahikatea dominated the swampy lowlands, pure stands covering much of the Waikato. Unfortunately, these forests lay in the path of European settlement and farming and were almost obliterated by burning and milling, although small scattered remnants can still be seen between Cambridge and Te Awamutu.
James Cook and his crew first encountered kahikatea, when paddling up the Waihou River. He noted in his diary that their tall straight trunks would make excellent spars for ships. Shortly thereafter Britain became engaged in naval wars with revolutionary America and France, and the demand for timber brought European vessels to Thames, where for a time Maori helped cut and load timber in exchange for iron tools. However the trade was short-lived because it was found that the logs rotted easily in water.
Had Europeans asked local Maori they might have saved themselves some bother. It was known that kahikatea was unsuitable for waka, but the resinous heartwood that remained after the sapwood had rotted away had other uses for Maori. Tied in bundles it made great fire torches, and blue and black dyes could be extracted and mixed with oils for tattooing. Also, because the timber was hard and did not crack, it was used to make eel spears, fine-toothed combs, gardening tools and musical instruments. In time Europeans too found uses for the pale, odourless wood, most notably to make boxes for the export of butter and cheese.
