View source for Biology:Araucaria columnaris

{{Short description|Species of conifer}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = 0 Araucaria columnaris New Caledonia.jpg
| status = LC 
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 14 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Thomas, P. |date=2010 |title=''Araucaria columnaris'' |volume=2010 |page=e.T42196A10661112 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-2.RLTS.T42196A10661112.en |access-date=14 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Araucaria
| parent = Araucaria sect. Eutacta
| species = columnaris
| authority = J.R.Forst. Hook.
| synonyms_ref = <ref>{{ThePlantList|id=kew-14348|taxon=Araucaria columnaris|authority=(G.Forst.) Hook.|access-date=13 December 2017}}</ref>
| synonyms = {{species list|
Araucaria cookii|R.Br. ex Endl.|
Araucaria excelsa|(Lamb.) R.Br.|
Araucaria intermedia|R.Br. ex Vieill.|
Columbea excelsa|(Lamb.) Spreng.|
Cupressus columnaris|J.R.Forst.|
Dombeya excelsa|Lamb.|
Eutacta cookii|Carrière|
Eutacta excelsa|(Lamb.) Link|
Eutacta humilis|Carrière|
Eutacta minor|Carrière|
Eutassa columnaris|(G.Forst.) de Laub.
}}
}}

'''''Araucaria columnaris''''', the '''coral reef araucaria''', '''Cook pine''' (or '''Cook's pine'''), '''New Caledonia pine''', '''Cook araucaria''', or '''columnar araucaria''', is a species of [[Biology:Conifer|conifer]] in the family [[Biology:Araucariaceae|Araucariaceae]].

==Distribution==
The tree is [[Biology:Endemism|endemic]] to [[Earth:New Caledonia|New Caledonia]] in the [[Place:Melanesia|Melanesia]] region of the Pacific.

It was first classified by [[Biography:Johann Reinhold Forster|Johann Reinhold Forster]], a botanist on the second voyage of Captain James Cook to circumnavigate the globe as far south as possible. It is named directly for Cook, and not for the
Cook Islands.

==Description==
''Araucaria columnaris'' is a distinctive narrowly conical tree growing up to {{cvt|60|m|ft}} tall in its native habit. The trees have a slender, spire-like crown.<ref name=gymn/>
The shape of young trees strongly resembles ''A. heterophylla''.
The bark of the Cook pine peels off in thin paper-like sheets or strips and is rough, grey, and resinous.<ref name=gymn/>

The relatively short, mostly horizontal branches are in whorls around the slender, upright to slightly leaning trunk. The branches are lined with cord-like, horizontal branchlets. The branchlets are covered with small, green, incurved, point-tipped, spirally arranged, overlapping leaves. The young leaves are needle-like, while the broader adult leaves are triangular and scale-like.<ref name=gymn/>

The female seed cones are scaly, egg-shaped, and {{cvt|10|-|15|cm|in|0}} long by {{cvt|7|-|11|cm|in|0}} wide. The smaller, more numerous male pollen cones are at the tips of the branchlets and are scaly, foxtail-shaped, and {{convert|2|in|cm|0|abbr=in|order=flip}} long.<ref name=gymn/>

A 2017 study found that trees tend to have a tilt dependent on the hemisphere of their location, growing upright on the Equator but leaning south in the northern hemisphere and north in the southern hemisphere.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Johns|first1=J. W.|last2=Yost|first2=J. M.|last3=Nicolle|first3=D.|last4=Igic|first4=B.|last5=Ritter|first5=M. K.|year=2017|title=Worldwide hemisphere-dependent lean in Cook pines|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317275781|journal=Ecology|volume=98|issue=9|pages=2482–2484|doi=10.1002/ecy.1850|pmid=28556968}}</ref>

==Ornamental tree==
It is cultivated in gardens and public landscapes in Queensland and Victoria of Australia, northern New Zealand, Southern California, Puerto Rico, Mexico, {{wipe|India}}, {{wipe|Philippines}}, Hawaii, South Brazil and Southeast Brazil.<ref name=gymn>{{cite web|url=http://www.conifers.org/ar/Araucaria_columnaris.php| publisher=The Gymnosperm Database|title=Araucaria columnaris}}</ref> Many of the "[[Biology:Araucaria heterophylla|Norfolk Island pines]]" that grow in Hawaii, including their descendants used as potted ornamentals on the U.S. mainland, are actually ''A. columnaris'', the two species having been confused when introduced.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pacifichorticulture.org/articles/the-araucaria-family-past-present/ |title=The Araucaria Family: Past & Present |first=Wayne P.|last=Armstrong |publisher=Pacific Horticulture Society |date= |accessdate=6 March 2021}}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed>
File:Araucariacolumnaris2088025388 0924f25902 o.jpg|Male cones
File:Araucaria columnaris female cones.jpg|Female cones
File:Araucaria columnaris 01 by Line1.jpg|Foliage
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.endemia.nc/plante/fiche67.html Endemia.NewCaledonia — ''Araucaria columnaris''] — distribution maps & text info.
*[http://www.conifers.org/ar/Araucaria_columnaris.php Conifers.org: ''Araucaria columnaris'' (coral reef araucaria)] —  ''description & images''.
*[http://www.um.es/eubacteria/Araucaria_columnaris.jpg Foster Garden (Honolulu, Hawai'i) — ''Araucaria columnaris''] image.
*[http://www.um.es/eubacteria/plantae.html University of Murcia.es: World Plants virtual gallery photos of ''Araucaria columnaris'']

{{Taxonbar|from=Q134045}}

[[Category:Araucaria|columnaris]]

{{Sourceattribution|Araucaria columnaris}}