Araucaria cunninghamii
| Araucaria cunninghamii | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Gymnospermae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Araucariales |
| Family: | Araucariaceae |
| Genus: | Araucaria |
| Section: | A. sect. Eutacta |
| Species: | A. cunninghamii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Araucaria cunninghamii | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Araucaria cunninghamii is a species of Araucaria known as hoop pine. Other less commonly used names include colonial pine, Queensland pine,[3] Dorrigo pine, Moreton Bay pine and Richmond River pine.[1] The scientific name honours the botanist and explorer Allan Cunningham, who collected the first specimens in the 1820s.
Habitat
The species is found in the dry rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland and in New Guinea. The trees can live up to 450 years and grow to a height of 60 metres.[4] The bark is rough, splits naturally, and peels easily.[5] The range extends from northern Queensland south to Coffs Harbor in New South Wales. The habitats are located in coastal tropical and subtropical rainforests at altitudes from sea level to 1000 meters; rather dry sites with relatively lean or stony soils are preferred. Araucaria cunninghamii is also planted today in other parts of Australia and in China. The variety Araucaria cunninghamiivar. papuana has natural habitats in New Guinea in the Arfak Mountains in the western part of the island.
Description
The leaves on young trees are awl-shaped, 1–2 cm long, about 2 mm thick at the base, and scale-like, incurved, 1–2 cm long and 4 mm broad on mature trees. The leaves of young trees and flat lateral branches are loosely arranged, acicular, crescent-shaped, pommel-shaped or more triangular, which are 0.7 to 1.7 inches long and about 2.5 millimeters wide at the base. They are tapered with spiny tip. The stomata are abaxial but are weak. The second leaf shape occurs in adult trees on the emerging and coniferous branches. These leaves are densely arranged and overlap each other; they are bent upwards, shiny and greyish green on the abaxial side. They are ovate to triangular, 0.6 to 2 inches long and at the base about 4 millimeters wide; they have stomata on both sides.
The tree can have a circumference of 100 centimeters. Highly resinous, the bark of the trunk is copper-colored on young trees; in old age it turns gray-brown to dark gray, rough and cross-ribbed; it dissolves in thin horizontal bands. The treetop is rather cylindrical in the young tree; older trees form a flattened crown tip. On long main shoots small branches are heaped at the branch end. The branches of the fresh shoot are up to 2 inches thick. The tree is monoecious; It can take over 200 years until the pin production begins.
The cones are ovoid, 8–10 cm long and 6–8 cm diameter, and take about 18 months to mature. The male cones sit at the branch ends; they are cylindrical to ovoid or ellipsoid, 2 to 3 inches long and 5 to 7 millimeters thick. They have short bracts and 10 scales. The microsporophylls are blunt rhombic. The female cones are ovate to ellipsoid, symmetrical, 6 to 10 inches long and 5 to 8 inches wide. The cone scales are narrow obovate. They have recurved spinous processes which are longer in the Australian variety than in the papuana variety of New Guinea. The seeds are ellipsoid, 1.5 inches long and 6 to 7 millimeters wide. The seed has a narrow wing; The distribution of the seeds is done by the wind. They disintegrate at maturity to release the nut-like edible seeds.
Subspecies
There are two varieties:
- Araucaria cunninghamii var. cunninghamii – Australia, from northeast New South Wales to east-central Queensland, at 0–1,000 m altitude.
- Araucaria cunninghamii var. papuana – New Guinea, on the mountains of Papua New Guinea, and in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, at 100–2,700 m altitude.
Cultivation and other uses
The wood is a high quality timber that is particularly important to the plywood industry and also used for furniture, veneer, joinery, panelling, particle board, flooring and boats.[6] Most natural stands in Australia and Papua New Guinea have been depleted by logging. It is now mainly found on timber plantations; however, the species continues to thrive in protected areas, including Lamington National Park where at least one walking track is named after it.[7] The plantations in Queensland have been subject to damage by a native rat species, Rattus tunneyi, which digs to the roots of a semi-mature tree and kills it, the animal was declared a pest for this reason.[8]
Australian Aborigines used the resin as cement.[9]
Gallery
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Hoop Pine in Prospect Nature Reserve in Sydney -
The banded bark of Araucaria cunninghamii -
Botanical illustration -
Cone -
Tree in natural habitat in NSW -
Tree with cones -
Trees in Queensland
References
- ^ a b Thomas, P. (2011). "Araucaria cunninghamii". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T32835A9734286. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T32835A9734286.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Araucaria cunninghamii". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ^ "Hoop Pine". Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
- ^ "Hoop Pine". about NSW. Archived from the original on 13 March 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Species: Araucaria cunninghamii (Hoop Pine)". Plantation Information Network. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Hoop Pine". Australian Timber Database. Timber.net.au. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^ "Nature, culture and history". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Baverstock, P.R. (1983). "Pale Field Rat Rattus Tunneyi". In Strahan, R. (ed.). Complete book of Australian mammals. The national photographic index of Australian wildlife (1 ed.). London: Angus & Robertson. p. 451. ISBN 0207144540.
- ^ Corlett, Eloise. "An Evolution Of Ethnobotany". ByronBayNow. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
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