. Rev. R. Taylor, `Leaf from the Natural History of New
Zealand,' p. 21:

"Rata, a tree; at first a climber; it throws out aerial roots;
clasps the tree it clings to and finally kills it, becoming a
large tree (metrosideros robusta). A hard but not durable
wood."

1854. W. Golder, `Pigeons' Parliament,' canto 1, p. 14:

"Unlike the neighbouring rata cast,
And tossing high its heels in air."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 135:

"The Rata (<i>Metrosideros robusta</i>), the trunk of which,
frequently measuring forty feet in circumference, is always
covered with all sorts of parasitical plants, and the crown
of which bears bunches of scarlet blossoms."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 264:

"Nay, not the Rata! howsoe'er it bloomed,
Paling the crimson sunset; for you know,
Its twining arms and shoots together grow
Around the trunk it clasps, conjoining slow
Till they become consolidate, and show
An ever-thickening sheath that kills at last
The helpless tree round which it clings so fast."

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 310:

"The Rata-Tree (<i>Metrosideros robusta</i>). This magnificent
tree. . . . height 80 to 100 feet . . . a clear stem to 30
and even 40 feet . . . very beautiful crimson polyandrous
flowers . . . wood red, hard, heavy, close-grained, strong,
and not difficult to work."

1879. H. <i>n</i>. Moseley, `Notes of a Naturalist on Challenger,'
p. 278:

One of the most remarkable trees . . . is the Rata. . . .
This, though a Myrtaceous plant, has all the habits of the
Indian figs, reproducing them in the closest manner. It starts
from a seed dropped in the fork of a tree, and grows downward
to reach the ground; then taking root there, and gaining
strength, chokes the supporting tree and entirely destroys it,
forming a large trunk by fusion of its many stems.
Nevertheless, it occasionally grows directly from the soil,
and then forms a trunk more regular in form."

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 39:

"That bark shall speed where crimson ratas gleam."

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii.
p. 210:

"The foliage of many of the large trees is quite destroyed by
the crimson flowering rata, the king of parasites, which having
raised itself into the upper air by the aid of some unhappy
pine, insinuates its fatal coils about its patron, until it has
absorbed trunk and branch into itself, and so gathered
sufficient strength to stand una