Araucaria flower

Department: gymnosperms (Pinophyta).

Class: coniferous (Pinopsyda).

Order: pine (Pinales).

Family: Araucariaceae (Araucariaceae).

Genus: araucaria (Araucaria).

Species: variegated araucaria (A. heterophylla).

Before the arrival of Europeans on the islands in 1788, the araucaria plant was one of the main plants of the local forests. Today, the araucaria flower is found in groups on headlands and in small groves. We invite you to look at a photo of araucaria, find out where araucaria grows, what an araucaria tree looks like and what its use is.

The natural range of araucaria flowers occupies a total of 38 km2. Most of the individuals are safe in the Norfolk Island National Park. The population of araucaria on the limestone Nepean in 1790 was about 200 mature trees, but 50 years later only one remained. It was still growing in the 1930s, but nothing is known of its existence at the moment. Araucaria was brought to Australia, these plants have taken root on the southeast coast of the mainland.

For a tall, slender trunk, the variegated araucaria is called the Norfolk pine, and for the strict radial symmetry of the shoots, it is a star pine and a triangular tree.

The soft and juicy needles of young araucaria attract herbivores that damage the plant. Over time, the risk decreases: the shoots become woody, the leaves become more rigid, the trunk stretches, and the lower branches fall off, making the crown almost invulnerable.

Araucaria variegated and its photo

Araucaria heterophyllous is a slender evergreen tree up to 65 m in height. A powerful trunk sometimes reaches 1 m in diameter. Horizontal branches depart from it, which in adult trees are present only in the upper half. Young shoots of araucaria are covered with thin bright green needles up to 2 cm long.

Pay attention to the photo of spiral araucaria leaves – their shape at different ages and on different parts of the plant may vary. The leaf arrangement is spiral, in adult plants they are scaly, concave, up to 10 mm long and up to 4 mm wide, the thickest ones cover the branches in the upper part of the crown.

This is a monoecious plant. As you can see in the photo of araucaria, male cones are oblong, up to 8 cm in length, when ripe they become bright red. Female – spherical, prickly, first yellowish green, then become light brown, length – up to 12 cm, diameter – up to 14 cm.

Araucaria variegated in nature reproduces by seeds, sometimes it can be propagated vegetatively. Pollinated by the wind. The female cones mature for about 18 months, then break up into individual seeds, each of which has two pterygoid appendages used for flight. The tree lives exceptionally long – up to 2000 years.

Application of the araucaria tree

Araucaria variegated and Bidvilla (A. bidwillii) adorn gardens and parks in subtropical regions around the world. In Europe and North America, where frosty winters are common, young araucaria trees are grown at home and dressed up for Christmas instead of firs.

Araucaria seeds are edible and taste like pine nuts. Wood is used as a material for construction and turning.

The Latin generic name of the plant was due to the Indian people of the Araucans, who have long eaten the seeds of Araucaria tiled (A. imbricata).

This is one of the oldest plants on earth. Judging by the fossil remains, it appeared about 200 million years ago and has changed little since then. In the British science fiction series Walking with Dinosaurs (1999) and some other films, the araucaria forests of New Caledonia and Chile were filmed as forests of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous period.

Araucaria variegated feels great on the barren sands of the ocean coast, easily tolerates a lack of moisture and soil salinity.

In the novel by Hermann Hesse “Steppenwolf” indoor araucaria serves as a symbol of home comfort, peace and obsession with cleanliness.

Araucaria variegated – endemic to Norfolk Island and the two nearby islands of Nepean and Phillip. The population of this plant on Norfolk Island at one time was significantly reduced due to deforestation and grazing, and today its condition is difficult to assess. Threatening factors include competition with invasive species and dieback, which kills old trees. By 1970, there were almost no araucaria left on the Nepean and Phillip Islands. There, a significant part of the plants were destroyed by rabbits, goats and pigs brought by the colonists.

Today, Araucaria variegated has been assigned the VU protection category. To help the species recover, seedlings are grown in nurseries and returned to forests.

Araucaria heterophyllous is the only member of its genus listed on the IUCN Red List.

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