Araucaria laubenfelsii

Corbasson 1968

Common names

De Laubenfels' araucaria (Silba 1986).

Taxonomic notes

Synonym: Eutassa laubenfelsii (Corbasson) de Laub. 2009. A molecular analysis places Araucaria laubenfelsii into the clade of large-leaved species of New Caledonia, along with A. biramulata, A. humboldtensis, A. montana, A. muelleri, and A. rulei (Gaudeul et al. 2012).

Description

"A columnar tree 10-50 m tall, branches dense and spreading. Bark gray, exfoliating in thin strips or irregular scales. Branchlets somewhat twisted, 18-28 mm. in diameter. Juvenile leaves spreading, needle-like, non-flattened, apex incurved, 10-15 mm. long. Adult leaves scale-like, triangular, imbricate, apex acuminate and incurved, midrib prominent, 1.2-2 cm. long by 8-10 mm. wide. Male cone cylindrical, curved, 12-15 cm. long by 22-28 mm. wide, scales ovate, microsporophylls triangular, pollen sacs 12. Female cone globular, 10-12 cm. long by 8-9 cm. wide, with long erect bracts 8-10 mm. long recurved at the tips. Seed to 3 cm. long, wings rounded, nut broad. Cotyledons 4, germination epigeal" (Silba 1986).

Distribution and Ecology

S New Caledonia: Mt. Mou, Mt. des Sources, Mt. Dzumac, Mt. Dou 400-1400 m. At Mont Do Botanical Reserve, this species receives an average rainfall of 1690 mm per year (more if fog drip is accounted for), with a precipitation maximum in February (avg. 255 mm) and minimum in September (45 mm). A. laubenfelsii occurs on ultramafic soils in both maquis and as an emergent in upland rainforest. In both habitats is evidently regenerates more or less continuously in response to small-scale disturbances including fire (in maquis) and blowdown (in maquis and rainforest) (Silba 1986, Rigg et al. 1998, Rigg 2005).

This map shows herbarium records of Araucaria species native to New Caledonia. Letter corresponds to first letter of species epithet (A. goroensis coded as A. muelleri, see A. goroensis for discussion) with different colors for species having same first letter; A. laubenfelsii is yellow. Click on an icon for further information. Distribution data from GBIF (2020.03.30), edited to remove duplicates.

The IUCN reports that the population status is stable.

Remarkable Specimens

The largest tree I have found documented was 68.8 cm dbh (Rigg et al. 1998). Have found no documentation of heights. The oldest recorded tree is about 280 years, based on ring counts, although evidence from a derived size-age relationship suggest that some rainforest emergents may attain 500 years (Rigg et al. 1998).

Ethnobotany

No data as of 2023.02.22.

Observations

Remarks

Citations

Corbasson, Michel. 1968. Une Nouvelle Espèce d’Araucaria de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Adansonia sér. 2, 8:467. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2023.03.04.

Gaudeul, M., G. Rouhan, M.F. Gardner, and P.M. Hollingsworth. 2012. AFLP markers provide insights into the evolutionary relationships and diversification of New Caledonian Araucaria species (Araucariaceae). American Journal of Botany 99(1):68-81.

Rigg, L.S., N.J. Enright, and T. Jaffré. 1998. Stand structure of the emergent conifer Araucaria laubenfelsii in maquis and rainforest, Mont Do, New Caledonia. Austral Ecology 23(6):528-538.

Rigg, L.S. 2005. Disturbance processes and spatial patterns of two emergent conifers in New Caledonia. Austral Ecology 30(4):363-373.

See also

Association Endemia, a site devoted to New Caledonian species. Has excellent photos, a range map, and other information. In French.