Node<K> *root; 	// root pointer
 
 
//and in a seperate class I have...
template <typename K>
class Node 
{
  public:
 
    // constructors
    Node() {};
    Node(const K newKey, Node<K> *l, Node<K> *r)
	:key(newKey), left(l), right(r) {};
 
    // data members
    K		key;	// key is a template
    Node<K> *   left;	// points to left child or NULL
    Node<K> *   right;	// points to right child or NULL
};
 
//cut&paste some code
Node<K> n;
n.key = newKey;
n.left = NULL;
n.right = NULL;
//so obviously there is a lot of cut&paste going on, but I assure you everything above this line works just fine.
root = &n;

root = new Node<K>(newKey, NULL, NULL);