Araucaria biramulata

J.Buchholz 1949

Common names

Biramule araucaria (Silba 1986).

Taxonomic notes

Synonymy:

• Eutacta cookii var. ovalifolia Carrière 1867
• Araucaria rulei var. pendula Bars. 1909
• Eutassa biramulata (J.T. Buchholz) de Laub. 2009

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

Description

Monoecious evergreen trees to 30 m. tall with numerous, spreading branches. Bark gray or brown, exfoliating in thin strips. Branches multi-stemmed at the tips, seasonal branches 8-13 mm in diameter. Juvenile foliage needle-like, non-flattened, curved inwards, apex sharply acute. Adult leaves spreading, ovate, scalelike, with a prominent midrib, 7-9 mm. long by 5-6 mm. wide, keeled, acuminate, stomata on both surfaces, apex incurved. Pollen cones cylindrical, 6-7 cm. long by l.5-2 cm. wide, scales acuminate, pollen sacs 7-8, microsporophylls triangular. Seed cones 9-10 cm. long by 8-9 cm. wide; bracts erect, to 8 mm. long. Seeds to 3 cm. long, with a long triangular nut and with ovate wings. Germination epigeal (Silba 1986).

Distribution and Ecology

New Caledonia, Province Sud: type from Mois de Mai, 300-1050 m (Silba 1986).

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. biramulata is dark green. Click on an icon for further information. Distribution data from GBIF (2020.03.30), edited to remove duplicates.

The IUCN reports that this species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild due to a limited and severely fragmented distribution due to projected continuing declines in extent of habitat, number of subpopulations, and number of mature individuals. The species now contains no more than 10,000 mature individuals, with no more than 1,000 in any subpopulation.

Remarkable Specimens

No data as of 2023.02.23.

Ethnobotany

No data as of 2023.02.23.

Observations

No data as of 2023.02.23.

Remarks

Citations

Buchholz, J. T. 1949. Additions to the coniferous flora of New Caledonia. Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. (Paris), Sér. 2, 21(2):279–286. Available: Biodiversity Heritage Library, accessed 2020.02.10.

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.

See also

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

The species account at Threatened Conifers of the World.