Dacrydium cupressinum Lamb.
Family: Podocarpaceae
Softwood
Country of Origin: New Zealand

The tree:
If rewarewa is the most distinctive native wood in New Zealand, then rimu is probably the best known and most easily identified native tree. The weeping habit induced by its slender, pendulous branchlets distinguishes it from other trees in the forest. It is a very tall forest canopy tree, usually 20-35 m in height, but sometimes reaching 60 m. The tallest specimens are found in the central North Island and in south Westland. The trunk, which is generally straight, can be up to 1.5 m in diameter, but may be larger in older trees. The bark of rimu is also distinctive. Darkish grey in colour, it peels off in long, thick, flakes. The tree, called red pine in parts of the South Island, occurs all over the country, from sea level to 600 m. Because it is found in lowland forests as well as in the steeper back country, from one end of New Zealand to the other; and because its timber is so useful for so many purposes, rimu is probably our best known native species.

The wood:
The dry heartwood of rimu is reddish brown to yellow with irregular pigmented streaks. The distinct intermediate zone between sapwood and heartwood shows similar variations in colour although in lighter tones. The sapwood is a uniform pale brown. When heartwood and intermediate zone are combined in the same piece — in sliced veneer, for example — some arresting colour effects result. Some superb bowls have been turned from the heartwood.