"Stand of 'pins colonnaires' on the cliffs of Lifou. Araucaria columnaris is local to the Loyalty Islands on coasts exposed to the prevailing winds" (Schmid 1981).
Tree about 15 m tall and 40 cm dbh at Quail Botanical Garden, CA [C.J. Earle, 6-Apr-2004].
Foliage on the above tree [C.J. Earle, 6-Apr-2004].
Bark on the above tree [C.J. Earle, 6-Apr-2004].
Distribution map (redrawn from de Laubenfels 1972).
Lately, cell phone towers have been trying to imitate conifers. This one in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico is trying to look like an Araucaria columnaris [R. Van Pelt, Feb-2005].
Common Names
Coral reef araucaria (Silba 1986).
Taxonomic notes
Syn: A. cookii R. Brown (Silba 1986).
Description
"A narrowly conical tree to 60 m. tall. Trunk clear, then later with numerous short shoots. Bark gray, papery, exfoliating in thin strips. Branchlets cord-like, growing in one plane, 9-10 mm. In diameter. Juvenile leaves needle-like, imbricate, lanceolate, 4-7 mm. long by 2-3 mm. wide, apex incurved. Adult leaves scale-like imbricate, triangular, acuminate, obtuse, midrib faint, 5-7 mm. long by 3-5 mm. wide, apex incurved. Male cone oblong-cylindrical, 5-10 cm. long by 15-22 mm. wide; scales triangular, finely teethed, pollen sacs 10; microsporophylls cuspidate. Female cone 10-15 cm. long by 7-11 cm. wide, with short bracts to 7 mm. long. Seeds 3-3.5 cm. long, nut ovate, wings broadly rounded. Germination epigeal" (Silba 1986).
Range
S New Caledonia: Ouinne to Prony & Isle of Pines, 0-50 m (Silba 1986), and Loyalty Islands (Schmid 1981). In my experience, it is also among the most common ornamental Araucarias encountered in climates - such as Hawaii, New Zealand's north island, Queensland, southern California and Mexico - that are warm enough to support it.
Big Tree
There is a specimen growing as an ornamental at the Tedeschi Winery in Ulupalakua on Maui, Hawaii, that is 48.8 m tall with a dbh of 120 cm (Robert Van Pelt e-mail 18-Mar-1998).
Oldest
Dendrochronology
Ethnobotany
Observations
Remarks
See Also
back | Araucaria | Araucariaceae | home
This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.conifers.org/ar/ar/columnaris.html
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
Last modified on 2007.05.30