Araucaria columnaris

Scientific name: Araucaria columnaris (J.R. Forster) W.J. Hooker 1852

Synonyms: Araucaria cookii R.Br. ex Endl., Araucaria excelsa (Lamb.) R.Br., Araucaria intermedia R.Br. ex Vieill., Columbea excelsa (Lamb.) Spreng., Cupressus columnaris G.Forst., Dombeya excelsa Lamb., Eutacta cookii Carrière, Eutacta excelsa (Lamb.) Link, Eutacta humilis Carrière, Eutacta minor Carrière, Eutassa columnaris (G.Forst.) de Laub.

Common names: Cook pine, Cook's pine, New Caledonia pine, Cook araucaria, Columnar araucaria (English), Pin colonnaire (French)

Description

Tree to 35(-60) m tall, with trunk to 0.5(-1) m in diameter. Bark thin, gray, peeling in horizontal strips. Crown very narrowly cylindrical, with lower branches usually falling and replaced by new short branches from buds on the trunk, this portion of the stem then appearing like a green column (hence the scientific name). Branches in short horizontal tiers of (four or) five to seven, with long, slender, whiplike side branches bearing tightly spaced combs of branchlets. Branchlets remaining green 2-3 years, largely hidden by both juvenile and adult foliage, shed intact after a few years along with their supporting branch. Juvenile leaves more or less clawlike, curled forward and inward along the branchlets, pointed, 4-7 mm long. Adult leaves scalelike, egg-shaped, with a broad, low, keel or crest on the outer (lower) face, 5-7 mm long, 4-5 mm wide, stiff, bent forward and inward, densely and tightly overlapping, resembling a braided rope. Stomates at right angles to the long axis of the leaf, in irregularly spaced, short lines making up two bands around the midrib on both the inner and outer faces. Pollen cones 5-10 cm long, 12-22 mm thick, each pollen scale with 8-10 pollen sacs in a single or partially doubled row. Seed cones a little longer than spherical, 10-15 cm long, 7-11 cm thick, dark green at maturity. Seed scales 3-4 cm long, 4-5 cm wide including the papery wings extending out on either side of the narrower, embedded seed, with a sharp, narrowly triangular fee tip 7-10 mm long turned up along the surface of the cone.

Southernmost New Caledonia, including the Isle of Pines and the nearby Loyalty Islands. Forming open pure stands as the only trees on coastal coral soils; 0-100 m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern

This species is not considered to be threatened due to its wide distribution and the vigorous regeneration in most populations.

Populations may be extensive, with good natural regeneration. This is the only New Caledonian species of Araucaria to occur on calcareous substrate although it is not restricted to these substrates. On the Isle of Pines it is often on coral. It is frequently planted in other coastal areas of New Caledonia.

No threats have been identified for this species. Changes in sea level may be a problem in the future. As this species occurs in close proximity to the coast, and on predominantly calcareous substrate, nickel mining does not present a threat. Trees may be thrown in high storms (typhoons) but regeneration is frequent. The trees also enjoy traditional protection from the Polynesian Kanaks and it is generally prohibited to fell them.

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland

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