Description
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Araucaria Araucana:
Araucaria araucana, commonly called the pewen, monkey-puzzle,[3] pehuen or piñonero, is an evergreen tree belonging to the family Araucariaceae and growing to a height of 30–40 m (98–131 ft) and a trunk diameter of 1–1.5 m (3.3–4.9 ft). Native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina, it is the hardiest species in the conifer genus Araucaria.[4]
Because of the prevalence of similar species in ancient prehistory, it is sometimes called a 'living fossil'.[citation needed] It is also the official tree of Chile and of the neighboring Argentine province of Neuquén. The IUCN changed its conservation status to Endangered in 2013, because logging, forest fires, and grazing have caused its population to dwindle.[1]
Description:
The leaves are thick, tough, and scale-like, triangular, 3–4 cm (1+1⁄4–1+1⁄2 in) long, 1–3 cm (1⁄2–1+1⁄4 in) broad at the base, and with sharp edges and tips. According to Lusk (2001), the leaves remain attached and stay live for up to 24 years[5] and so cover almost all of the tree, except for the older branches.
It is usually dioecious, with the male and female cones on separate trees, though occasional individuals bear cones of both sexes. The male (pollen) cones are oblong and cucumber-shaped, 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long at first, expanding to 8–12 cm (3–4+1⁄2 in) long by 5–6 cm (2–2+1⁄2 in) broad at pollen release. It is wind pollinated. The female (seed) cones, which mature in autumn about 18 months after pollination, are globose, large, 12–20 cm (4+1⁄2–8 in) diameter, and hold about 200 seeds. The cones disintegrate at maturity to release the 3–4 cm (1+1⁄4–1+1⁄2 in) long nut-like seeds.[citation needed]
The thick bark of Araucaria araucana, up to 15 cm thick, may be an adaptation to wildfire.[6]
Araucaria Angustifolia:
Araucaria angustifolia, the Paraná pine, Brazilian pine or candelabra tree (pinheiro-do-paraná, araucária or pinheiro brasileiro), is a critically endangered species in the conifer genus Araucaria. Although the common names in various languages refer to the species as a "pine", it does not belong in the genus Pinus.
Description:
It is an evergreen tree usually growing to 40 metres (130 ft) tall and 1 m (3 ft 3 in) diameter at breast height. The tree is fast growing; as much as 16 m or 52 ft in 14 years in a plantation at Puerto Piray, Misiones Province, Argentina.[3]: 13_8 The leaves are thick, tough and scale like, triangular, 3–6 cm (1+1⁄8–2+3⁄8 in) long, 5–10 millimetres (25⁄128–25⁄64 in) broad at the base, and with razor-sharp edges and tip. They persist 10 to 15 years, so cover most of the tree except for the trunk and older branches. The bark is uncommonly thick, up to 15 cm (6 in) deep.[4] The inner bark and resin from the trunk of the tree is reddish.[5]
It is usually dioecious, with the male and female cones on separate trees. The male (pollen) cones are oblong, 6 cm (2+1⁄2 in) long at first, expanding to 10–18 cm (4–7 in) long by 15–25 mm (9⁄16–1 in) broad at pollen release. Like all conifers it is wind pollinated. The female cones (seed), which mature in autumn about 18 months after pollination, are globose, large, 18–25 cm (7–10 in) in diameter, and hold about 100–150 seeds. The cones disintegrate at maturity to release the approximately 5 cm (2 in) long nut-like seeds, which are then dispersed by animals, notably the azure jay, Cyanocorax caeruleus.[6]
Araucaria Bidwillii:
Araucaria bidwillii, commonly known as the bunya pine (/ˈbʌnjə/),[4] banya[5] or bunya-bunya, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae which is endemic to Australia. Its natural range is southeast Queensland with two very small, disjunct populations in northeast Queensland's World Heritage listed Wet Tropics. There are many planted specimens on the Atherton Tableland, in New South Wales, and around the Perth metropolitan area, and it has also been widely planted in other parts of the world. They are very tall trees – the tallest living individual is in Bunya Mountains National Park and was reported by Robert Van Pelt in January 2003 to be 51.5 m (169 ft) in height.
Description:
Araucaria bidwillii will grow to a height of 50 m (160 ft) with a single unbranched trunk up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) diameter, which has dark brown or black flaky bark.[6][7][8][9] The branches are produced in whorls at regular intervals along the trunk, with leaf-bearing branchlets crowded at their ends.[8] The branches are held more or less horizontally – those towards the top of the trunk may be somewhat ascending, those on the lowest section of the trunk may be somewhat drooping. This arrangement gives the tree a very distinctive egg-shaped silhouette.
The leaves are small and rigid with a sharp tip which can easily penetrate the skin.[10] They are narrowly triangular, broad at the base and sessile (without a stem).[6][10] They measure up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long by 1 cm (0.4 in) wide with fine longitudinal venation, glossy green above and paler underneath.[6][10][9] The leaf arrangement is both distichous and decussate (referred to as secondarily distichous) – that is, one pair of leaves are produced on the twig opposite each other, and the next pair above is rotated around the twig 90° to them, and so on.[6]
The cones are terminal, the male (or pollen) cone is a spike up to 20 cm (7.9 in) long which matures around October to November.[7][8][9][10] The female (or seed) cone is much larger, reaching up to 30 cm (12 in) long and 20 cm (7.9 in) wide, which is roughly equivalent to a rugby ball.[7][8][9][10] At maturity, which occurs from December through to March,[7][8] female cones are green with 50–100 pointed segments, each of which encloses a seed, and they can weigh up to 10 kg.[8][9][11][12] Both seed and pollen cones are some of the largest of all conifer species.[13]