Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Guide to trees of Papua New Guinea
Copyright held by the authors, National Herbarium of New South Wales, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex A.Cunn.

in Lambert, A.B., A Description of the genus Pinus, edition 3 Vol. 2: 144-145 (1832)

Other Literature: J.J. Havel, Forest Botany, Part 2 Botanical Taxonomy 21 (1975) Fig. 3-4.

Family: Araucariaceae
Conifer

Timber Group: Softwood or Plantation species Tradename: Hoop Pine

Field Characters: Emergent tree (up to 60 m high, rarely up to 70 m); Bole cylindrical (up to 200 cm diam.); straight; buttresses buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark brown, rough, peeling (in horizontal strips) or pustular, slightly lenticels elongated laterally; Subrhytidome (under-bark) red or brown; less than 25 mm thick, 21.0; bark blaze with two layers; strongly aromatic; pine-like; outer blaze dark red, markings absent, fibrous (corky); inner blaze pale red, markings absent, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, white/milky, not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air, sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches, spiral (leaves occurring singly at a node and arranged spirally up the branchlet), simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole absent; leaves broadest below middle, 1.2-1.8 cm, 0.2 (c.) cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, long-tapering, venation parallel-veined (indistinct to not visible), secondary veins closed, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins absent; leaves lower surface dull green, upper surface dull dark green or green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on an unbranched axis, flowers arranged in a cone (strobilus) (male strobilus 2-4 cm long; female strobilus 8-10 cm long); flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on the same plant, not stalked, flowers slightly asymmetric (male flowers) or with one plane of symmetry (female flowers), 3.0-(male flowers; female flowers)-5.0 mm long, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.) (1-2 mm diam.); perianth absent; stamens 5-(reduced to pollen cells on lower surface of scales)-8; ovary superior, carpels solitary, locules 1; styles absent.

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, arrangement of fruits present, cone 50.0-100.0 mm, 50.0-80.0 mm, green or brown; seeds 1 (per wing-like scale, with many seeds per cone), about 10 mm long (10-15 mm long), winged (2 wings, each c. 15 mm long), narrow (longer than wide), seed 1-10 mm diam. (5-7 mm diam.).

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Western Highlands, Southern Highlands, Western, Central, Milne Bay & Papuan Islands.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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Notes: Notes Refers to Araucaria cunninghamii var. papuana Laut.