Maire
Common name: Black maire
Botanical name: Nestegis cunninghamii
The black maire is a canopy tree that grows from sea level to 760 metres altitude and ranges over the North Island and rarely in Marlborough. Nowadays it is only found in isolated districts, having been over-felled for firewood. The tree grows slowly and can reach 20m with a trunk 60 cm to 1.5m in diameter. The wood burns slowly and with great heat. The timber is heavy, dark brown, often streaked with black and is very hard.
The name maire is also given to a more common smaller tree, the white maire, Nestegis lanceolata, which has the same range and similar, though smaller, leaves.
In addition to black maire being found in the river terraces around GZ they can also be seen in Te Marua Bush, the small forest remnant at the very edge of the Kaitoke Regional Park, just north of the Te Marua Golf Club at the foot of the Kaitoke Hill by SH2.
Leaves
The tree passes through a juvenile stage when the leaves are long and thin, 15-25 cm long, but only 8-17 mm wide, but the adult leaves are shorter and wider at 7.5-15 cm long and 2-4.5 cm wide. They have slightly wrinkled margins and are dark green above, a paler green underneath.
Adult foliage
Under surface of leaf
Flowers and Fruits
Flowers are very small and insignificant, followed by a great profusion of small fruits about fingernail size. On most trees these are a pale red, but on some trees they are pale yellow instead. The fruits take 12 months to ripen.
Bark
Black maire bark is rough and corky.
Corky bark on adult tree
The maire at GZ
A bit hard to photograph I'm afraid
The cache
The cache is a red M&M container and at time of placement contained a log sheet, a pencil and a lion hand stamp. Online logs that do not have a matching signature in the paper log will be deleted.