Araucaria cunninghamii | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Gymnospermae |
Division: | Pinophyta |
Class: | Pinopsida |
Order: | Araucariales |
Family: | Araucariaceae |
Genus: | Araucaria |
Section: | A. sect. Eutacta |
Species: | A. cunninghamii |
Binomial name | |
Araucaria cunninghamii | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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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.
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.
There are two varieties:
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]
Examples of the species can be found on ridges and mountaintops in Queensland's North Burnett region (sometimes in quantity where dry rainforests remain – such as on the summit of Mount Perry and on ridges north of Mount Walsh National Park), inland from Gympie in the Wide Bay, and also at lower elevations around homesteads, where the trees may possibly have been retained for aesthetic value. An example can be seen off the road to the lookout above the town of Mount Perry and a number of trees line the approach to the town from Gin Gin.
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]
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 pinecones of both. [Gressitt 1982 1]
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]
Conondale National Park is 130 km north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland near the town of Conondale in the south east Queensland bioregion. The park covers an area of 35,648 hectares protecting large areas of subtropical rainforest, woodlands, wet and dry sclerophyll forest including Queensland's tallest tree. The park contains areas of regenerating forest which have been previously logged; areas of forest plantations also border the park. The park is currently managed by the Queensland Government under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.
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Araucaria is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae. While today they are largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, during the Jurassic and Cretaceous they were distributed globally. There are 20 extant species in New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, eastern Australia, New Guinea, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
Araucaria bidwillii, commonly known as the bunya pine, banya 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.
Araucaria heterophylla is a species of conifer. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia. It is not a true pine, which belong to the genus Pinus in the family Pinaceae, but instead is a member of the genus Araucaria in the family Araucariaceae, which also contains the hoop pine. Members of Araucaria occur across the South Pacific, especially concentrated in New Caledonia, where 13 closely related species of similar appearance are found. It is sometimes called a star pine, Polynesian pine, triangle tree or living Christmas tree, due to its symmetrical shape as a sapling.
Agathis robusta, commonly known as Dundathu pine, kauri pine, Queensland kauri (pine), Australian kauri (pine) or smooth-barked kauri, is a coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae. Although sometimes called a pine it is not a true pine, having leaves rather than needles. It has a disjunct distribution, occurring in eastern New Guinea and New Britain in Papua New Guinea and Queensland, Australia.
Toona ciliata is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout South Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia.
The pale field rat is a small rat endemic to Australia. It is a nocturnal and herbivorous rodent that resides throughout the day in shallow burrows made in loose sand. Once widespread, its range has become greatly reduced and it is restricted to the grasslands, sedges, and cane-fields at the north and east of the continent. Its fur is an attractive yellow-brown colour, with grey or cream at the underside. This medium-sized rat has a tail shorter than its body.
Agathis ovata, the mountain kauri, is a species of conifer, genus Agathis in the family Araucariaceae. It is found only on the southwest Pacific island of New Caledonia. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Araucaria hunsteinii is a species of Araucaria native to the mountains of Papua New Guinea. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, common name mealybug ladybird or mealybug destroyer, is a species of ladybird beetle native to eastern Australia. The beetle feeds on mealybugs and other scale insects, and is used to control those pests on citrus orchards worldwide.
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Randia moorei, commonly known as the spiny gardenia, is a rare Australian shrub growing in the far north eastern areas of the state of New South Wales and adjacent areas in Queensland. The habitat is subtropical rainforest north of Lismore.
The genus Cryptolaemus consists of predatory beetles of the family Coccinellidae, whose larvae and adults mostly prey upon scale insects on ornamental plants.
Planchonella eerwah is a rare species of Australian rainforest tree in the family Sapotaceae. Common names include shiny-leaved condoo, black plum and wild apple. It is endemic to south eastern Queensland, with a restricted distribution and regarded as endangered.
Hylastes ater is a species of beetle in the family Curculionidae, the true weevils. It is a bark beetle, a member of the subfamily Scolytinae. Its common name is the black pine bark beetle. It is native to Europe and parts of Asia, including China and Korea. It is known as an introduced species in many other regions, including Australia, New Zealand, the Americas, and South Africa. It is a pest of pines and other trees, and it is widespread in areas where pine trees are cultivated. The species "is an important threat to the biosecurity of all forested countries."
Coptotermes elisae, the Papuan plantation termite, is a species of termite in the family Rhinotermitidae. It is native to New Guinea, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia, where it attacks and kills living trees and damages structural timbers.
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