The widest natural distribution of the lacebarks. A tree of the dry east. Narrow-leaved lacebark grows mainly on lowland eastern sites in the South Island and southern North Island. It is a tree of the dry side, of the rain shadow, of the places where the east wind blows. A tree that likes it dry. The juvenile form is bushy and divaricating – a tangle of wiry branches that hides the young tree from browsing birds. The adult tree often has a column-like form, reaching up to 12 metres, with bark that peels in fibrous strips. A tree that changes as it grows. The leaves are small, narrow, and toothed, arranged alternately along the branches. The flowers are white, appearing in summer, covering the tree in a cloud of petals. The bark is the story – it peels to reveal tough, net-like fibrous layers that were used by Māori for making rope. To see a narrow-leaved lacebark is to see a tree of the dry east. It grows on the river terraces, on the forest margins, on the sunny slopes. Its bark peels in the sun, its flowers scent the air. The fibrous inner bark was stripped and plaited into ropes for fishing nets (kupenga) and for other uses. The fibrous bark was also used for making ribbons and decorative trim. The wood was used for making small tools. Māori experimented with making paper cloth (aute) from the inner bark of houhere species. Narrow-leaved lacebark is not a king. It is not a warrior. It is the tree of the dry east, the one with the peeling bark and the white flowers. The east wind blows. The lacebark stands, bark peeling, white flowers scenting the air. It does not know it made rope. It does not know it made paper cloth. It just wants to grow where the east wind blows. It has been here for millennia. It will be here as long as the east wind blows.