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Araucaria angustifolia
Araucariaceae FAMILY Critically Endangered

Araucaria angustifolia

Araucaria angustifolia

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthSlow

Found in humid areas of the tropics and subtropics, which experience a mild to hot summer without a dry season[1]. The plant is found at elevations between 200 - 2,200 metres, but is only found below 500 metres where cool air flows from the highlands towards the valleys[2]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 18 - 23°c, but can tolerate 9 - 27°c[2]. Mature plants can be killed by temperatures of -5°c or lower, but new growth will be severely damaged at 0°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 1,250 - 2,500mm[2]. Grows best in a sunny position[2]. Prefers a medium-textured, moist but well-drained soil[2]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 6.5, tolerating 5 - 7.5[2]. Established plants are drought tolerant[2]. Optimum annual wood production is 10 - 23 cubic metres per hectare[2]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required[3].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in individual containers[4, 3]. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 2 months at 15°c[4]. The plants have a rather sparse root system and are best placed in their final positions as soon as possible. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Araucaria+angustifolia>

Pollinators

Wind

References

  1. [1]Global Tree Campaign - 40 Species in Trade — http://www.unep-wcmc.org/trees/trade/40_species_in_trade.htm ↩︎Information on the habitats, uses and some cultivation notes for 40 species of timber trees.
  2. [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  3. [3]Brazilian Trees. Volume 1. 4th Edition. — Lorenzi. H. · Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil. · 2002 · ISBN 85-86714-17-8 ↩︎Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
  4. [4]Growing from Seed. Volume 2. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
  5. [5]The Gymnosperm Database — http://www.conifers.org/index.htm ↩︎A vast amount of information on conifers and families of gymnosperms.
  6. [6]Flora Parana — http://www.chaua.org.br/pagina/floraparana-catalogo-plantas-nativas-do-parana ↩︎Not quite a flora, but an on-line listing of many of the plants of Parana in southern Brazil. Good photographs, plus descriptions and details of plant uses.
  7. [7]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  8. [8]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  9. [9]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  10. [10]Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. — Chudnoff. Martin. · USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. · 1984 ↩︎Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.
  11. [11]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.