Agathis
| Pinophyta: Conifers | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
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The genus Agathis forms a relatively small group of about twenty or so species of evergreen trees characteristically with very large trunks and little or no branching for some way up. Young trees are normally quite conical in shape, only upon maturity does the crown become more rounded or irregularly shaped.
The bark is smooth and light grey to grey-brown usually peeling into irregular flakes that become thicker on more mature trees. The branch structure is often horizontal or when larger, becoming more ascending. The lowest branches often leave circular branch scars as they fall off from the lower trunk.
The juvenile leaves in all species are larger than the adult, more or less acute, varying among the species from ovate to lanceolate. Adult leaves are opposite, elliptical to linear, and very leathery and quite thick. Young leaves are often a coppery-red, contrasting markedly with the usually green or glaucous-green foliage of the previous season.
The male pollen cones appear usually only on larger trees after seed cones have appeared. The female seed cones usually develop on short lateral branchlets, maturing after two years. They are normally oval or globe shaped.
Representative species include Kauri Pine (Agathis australis), and Queensland Kauri or Smooth-bark Kauri (Agathis robusta)
The timber of all species is straight-grained and of fine quality.
Full species list for genus Agathis:
- A. atropurpurea
- A. australis
- A. celebica
- A. corbassonii
- A. dammara
- A. endertii
- A. flavescens
- A. kinabaluensis
- A. labillardieri
- A. lanceolata
- A. lenticula
- A. microstachya
- A. montana
- A. moorei
- A. orbicula
- A. ovata
- A. philippinensis
- A. robusta
- A. silbae
- A. spathulata
- A. vitiensis