We have always admired the stands of silver beech on the farmland along this section of state highway 49. Finding a place to hide a cache in the beech grove was a bit tricky but we found a more secluded spot nearby on a small dirt road. The cache is hidden amongst a stand of introduced conifers. It should be possible to park nearby and find the cache without disturbing any of the locals.
Lophozonia menziesii or Silver beech (Māori: tawhai) is a tree of the southern beech family endemic to New Zealand. Its common name probably comes from the fact that its bark is whitish in colour, particularly in younger specimens. It is found from Thames southwards in the North Island (except Mount Taranaki/Egmont), and throughout the South Island. Silver beech is a forest tree up to 30 m tall. The trunk, which is often buttressed, may be up to 2 m in diameter. The leaves are small, thick and almost round in shape, 6 to 15 mm long and 5 to 15 mm wide with rounded teeth which usually occur in pairs, 1 or 2 hair fringed domatia are found on the underside of each leaf. It grows from low altitudes to the mountains. L. menziesii was known as Nothofagus menziesii prior to 2013.