About Halocarpus kirkii (F.Muell. ex Parl.) Quinn
From a distance, Halocarpus kirkii has an overall appearance similar to a small kauri. It can usually be distinguished by its juvenile foliage, which often stays on the lower branches until the tree grows to around 10 metres tall. This tree eventually reaches a maximum height of about 25 metres, with a trunk that can grow up to 1 metre thick. Its bark is grey-brown, with a rough, pustular texture. The pale reddish-brown wood of Halocarpus kirkii is strong and durable. Leaves on younger trees, and on the lower branches of adult trees, are narrow, somewhat leathery, and grow up to 4 cm long and 3 mm wide. Adult leaves are thick, scale-like, much smaller, overlapping, and lie appressed to the branchlets in 4 rows. Halocarpus kirkii is not a common tree. It grows in lowland forests up to an altitude of 700 metres in the north of the North Island and on Great Barrier Island.
