Araucaria cunninghamii

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Araucaria cunninghamii
Araucaria cunninghamii.jpg

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Araucariaceae
Genus: Araucaria
Section: A. sect. Eutacta
Species:
A. cunninghamii
Binomial name
Araucaria cunninghamii
Synonyms[2]
  • Altingia cunninghamii (Mudie) Corrie
  • Eutassa cunninghamii (Mudie) G.Don
  • Eutacta cunninghamii (Mudie) Link

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]

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 cones are ovoid, 8–10 cm long and 6–8 cm diameter, and take about 18 months to mature. 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]

Aboriginal Australians used the resin as cement.[8]

Pests[]

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.[9] The vulnerability of A. cunninghamii plantations to pest losses has caused some of them to be replaced by A. hunsteinii which suffers less in plantation.[10] Unspecified Microlepidoptera are significant pests of the pine cones of both.[Gressitt 1982 1]

Biological control[]

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri is a coccinellid predator of mealybug and soft scale insect parasites of A. cunninghamii, and has several characteristics that make it a good biocontrol for use in plantations.[11] Although they are less interested in other trees - by many multiples - C. montrouzieri does hunt the same pests in custard apple and citrus plantations.[11]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Thomas, P. (2011). "Araucaria cunninghamii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T32835A9734286. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T32835A9734286.en.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Araucaria cunninghamii". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Hoop Pine". Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Hoop Pine". about NSW. Archived from the original on 13 March 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Species: Araucaria cunninghamii (Hoop Pine)". Plantation Information Network. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Hoop Pine". Australian Timber Database. Timber.net.au. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Nature, culture and history". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  8. ^ Corlett, Eloise. "An Evolution Of Ethnobotany". ByronBayNow. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  9. ^ (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.
  10. ^ Wylie, F. R. (1982). "Insect problems of Araucaria plantations in Papua New Guinea and Australia". . Taylor & Francis (Informa UK Limited). 45 (2): 125–131. doi:10.1080/00049158.1982.10674343. ISSN 0004-9158.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Finlay-Doney, M.; Walter, G.H. (2012). "Behavioral responses to specific prey and host plant species by a generalist predatory coccinellid (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant)". Biological Control. Elsevier BV. 63 (3): 270–278. doi:10.1016/j.biocontrol.2012.09.004. ISSN 1049-9644.
  1. ^ p. 391, 4.5. Insect pests of Araucaria species in New Guinea
    A number of as yet unidentified members of the Microlepidoptera also cause much wastage in cones of A. cunninghamii and A. hunsteinii."

External links[]

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