Homework Challenge A5

Improve your research study skills: Research Rimu.

Rimu is one of New Zealands most beautiful and useful trees. It has been the main native timber since 1910 when it started to displace kauri and is said to remain the main timber for a long time. The quantity of rimu is rapidly falling and will be endangered in one or two decades. Rimu can live up to a ripe old age of 1000 years, most average rimu trees live from 500-600 years. The first 300-400 years of a trees life they grow slowly until they reach the canopy when they meet the sunlight and start to grow faster. A mature rimu tree will drop over 200,000 seeds. These trees are consistently be milled for furniture purposes, so regenerating the forest so that rimu do not become endangered is a must. Rimu is usually found in lowland and montane forest.

Rimu is very important to Māori. In the olden days rimu's inner bark was used for medicinal purposes. Mainly to heal cuts and burns. The bitter gum could be used to stop bleeding. The leaves were used in vapor baths. The red cup that holds the rimu seeds were eaten by māori. Māori believe that the bark of the rimu had healing qualities but only if taken from the side of the tree facing the sun rise. The heart of rimu was used for spear tips in pre-European days, and the rimu also provided the materials for making combs. We discovered that the leaves are in fact useful for combing hair as we tried this at our school camp. In Captain Cook's time the tops of young branches were used to make spruce beer which was given to the sailors to prevent scurvy. Rimu serves many purposes. Most old houses in New Zealand are made from rimu wood, wether it is the floorboards or the roof every old house would have some rimu in them.

Rimu is the best tree in the school because it is a canopy tree, they tower over the others. Rimu also has various uses, treating burns, making furniture and many more. One other reason is we all co-operate together and know how to solve various issues. We show initiative by placing our roots deep in the ground so that we will not fall from our place at the top of the school