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Araucaria bidwillii

(Bunya Bunya)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Chinese:

Da Ye Nan Yang Shan, kuo Ye Nan Yang Shan (Taiwan)

Common Names in English:

Bunya Bunya, Bunya Nut, Bunya Pine, Bunya-Bunya, Bunya-Bunya (Aust), Bunya-Bunya Tree, Bunya-Pine, False Monkey Puzzle Tree

Common Names in Japanese:

Bunyabunya, hiroha Nonanyou Sugi

Description

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Family Araucariaceae

Trees evergreen , dioecious or monoecious, with relatively large pith in trunk and resin in cortex. Leaves spirally arranged or decussate, sessile, decurrent. Cones unisexual . Pollen cones axillary or terminal on branchlets , solitary or clustered; microsporophylls numerous , spirally arranged, sessile; microsporangia 4-20, external, suspended, arranged in 2 rows , filiform ; pollen sacs split longitudinally; pollen nonsaccate. Seed cones solitary, terminal on branchlets, maturing in 2nd or 3rd year; bracts numerous, spirally arranged; ovulate scales degenerate or ligulate , connate with bracts on 1 side, each with 1 ovule at base abaxially; ovules connate with ovulate scales or with bracts (when ovulate scales degenerate) ; bracts of mature cones deciduous, flattened, woody or thickly leathery, bearing 1 seed in basal part (if developed), sometimes adnate with ligulate seed scales in center of adaxial surface, apex triangular or caudate . Seeds connate with bracts or detached, flattened, winged or not. 2n = 26.

Three genera and 41 species: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines; Australia, New Zealand, SW Pacific Islands, South America; two genera and four species (all introduced ) in China.[1]

Genus Araucaria

Trees monoecious, occasionally dioecious; branches whorled or almost so; winter buds small. Leaves spirally arranged , needlelike to broadly ovate or triangular, varied in shape and size even on same tree. Pollen cones axillary or terminal on branchlets , cylindric , ovoid , or ellipsoid ; microsporophylls densely arranged. Seed cones erect , ellipsoid, or ovoid to subglobose; ovulate scales ligulate ; bracts of mature cones large, woody, distal part thickened, distal margin sharply and transversely ridged , apex reflexed or upcurved, pointed ; seed scales adnate with bracts in basal, seed-bearing part, detached in apical part, sometimes thickened and exposed. Seeds connate with bracts, sometimes with 2 apparent lateral wings formed from bract. Cotyledons usually 2, occasionally 4. Germination hypogeal or epigeal.

Nineteen species: Papua New Guinea; Australia (including Norfolk Island), New Caledonia, South America; three species (introduced ) in China.[2]

Physical Description

Species Araucaria bidwillii

Trees to 50 m tall; trunk to 1 m d.b.h.; bark dark gray-brown, thick, flaking ; crown pyramidal ; branchlets dense, pendulous, green, glabrous . Leaves radially spreading , bright green, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, or triangular-ovate, flattened, slighty incurved , hard, thick, leathery, lacking a midvein but with numerous , parallel, thin veins, stomatal lines abaxial ; leaves of same year dimorphic : those of young trees and vegetative branchlets longer (0.7-2.8 cm) and more loosely arranged than those of old trees and cone-bearing branchlets, those at middle of branchlets 2.5-6.5 cm, apex acuminate or acute. Pollen cones axillary , solitary, cylindric . Seed cones ovoid-subglobose, ca. 30 × 22 cm; bracts oblong-elliptic or oblong-ovate, margin relatively thick, wingless, apex triangular, reflexed ; seed scales thickened, exposed at apex. Seeds elongate-elliptic, wingless. Pollination Jun, seed maturity after autumn of 3rd year. [source]

Habit: Pyramidal

Flowers: Flower Conspicuous: No value

Foliage: Drooping limbs covered with sharplky pointed leaves to 2 in. long • Foliage Shape: Lance-shaped • Normal foliage color: Green • Underside foliage: Green • Juvenile foliage: Green • Mature foliage: Green • New foliage: Green • Spring foliage: Green • Summer foliage: Green • Fall foliage: Green • Winter foliage: Green

Size/Age/Growth

Growth Rate: Moderate Growing • Size: Moderate growing to 80 ft . high, 20 ft. wide.

Landscaping

Care: Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system . Watering can be reduced after establishment. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring .

Habitat

Cultivated.[3].

Ecology: Araucaria bidwillii is a large, emergent tree in subtropical rainforest on basaltic or other igneous substrates that is sometimes associated with A. cunninghamii. It occupies the ecotone between moist angiosperm-dominated forest and drier vine thickets with partly deciduous trees, particularly in the southern part of its disjunct range . The forest is divided into larger and smaller woods by ‘balds’, coarse grasslands or open savannas which form sharp boundaries with the forest patches. Annual precipitation is 1,100-1,400 mm in the southern area, with heavy rains in summer but with a dry season from April/May to September. In contrast to this, the northern populations lie close to the wettest part of the Australian continent, causing a more evenly distributed annual precipitation of 1,500-2,000 mm (Mill and Farjon in prep.).

Abundant seed is produced in ‘mast years’ at approximately three-year intervals. Seeds remain in the cone until after it falls off the tree; they may be dispersed by water flowing in creeks and gullies, rolling down a slope or by animal vectors such as the Mountain Brush-tail Possum, Trichosurus caninus (Smith et al. 2007)[4].

List of Habitats :

Biology

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Growth

Culture: Space over 40' apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full sun

Moisture: Water Requirements: Water regularly, when top 3 in. of soil is dry.

Temperature: Heat Zones: High: 12 (>210 days) Low:8 (>90 to 120 days) (map) • Cold Hardiness: High:11 (Above 40 F) Low:8 (10 to 20 F) (map)

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Abies araucana (Molina) Poir. • Araucaria dombeyi A. Rich. • Araucaria imbricata Pav. • Columbea imbricata (Pav.) Carrière • Columbea quadrifaria Salisb. • Dombeya chilensis Lam. • Pinus araucana Molina

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Comment: Conservation status: LC, Habit: Tree

Last scrutiny: 5-Jun-2008

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Araucaria

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 10 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. angustifolia (Brazilian Monkey Puzzle Tree) · A. araucana (Monkey Puzzle) · A. bidwillii (Bunya Bunya) · A. columnaris (Cook Pine) · A. cunninghamii (Hoop Pine) · A. heterophylla (Norfolk Island Pine) · A. heterophylla 'Monia' (Majestic Beauty ® Star Pine) · A. hunsteinii (Klinkii Pine) · A. rulei (Rule Araucaria) · A. subulata (Narrow-Leaved Araucaria)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 16, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Liguo Fu, Nan Li & Robert R. Mill "Araucariaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 9. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Liguo Fu, Nan Li & Robert R. Mill "Araucaria". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 9. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Araucaria bidwillii". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 9. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  4. Thomas, P. 2011. Araucaria bidwillii. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012