Known by many as the 'Historic Puriri' although no historic references can be located. It may be that the purported age of the tree is why it is considered 'historic'. In 1913 the Englishman Sir H. Rider Haggard is reported to have speculated that the tree was 2,000 years old although his experience with New Zealand trees must have been limited.
The tree was celebrated on page 148 in the Burstall & Sale book "Great Trees of New Zealand. The source of much of the trees current decay appears to have been recorded in the 1984 photos. An old burl looks to have been subsequently cut off and several flush cuts can now be seen where there are cavities that have coalesced into a central column of decay. Burstall noted that 'a feature of this fine tree is it's "gun-barrel" trunk, clean to 10.4 m after tree surgery several years ago.' (Cadwallader, B.G. 2011).
References. Burstall SW. FM. Report no.19. 1973; p.11. Burstall S.W. & Sale E.V. 'Great Trees of New Zealand' 1984; pp. 148-149.