Araucaria cunninghamii
Araucaria cunninghamii
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
A plant of low elevations in the moist tropics, found at elevations below 1,000 metres in areas where the mean annual temperature is in the range 15 - 25°c and the mean annual rainfall is 1,900 - 4,800 mm[1]. It can occasionally experience light frosts[2]. Plants are found in the wild on loam, clay, sand or peat soils[3]. Female flowering commences when the tree is about 12 years old while male flowering does not occur until it is 22-27 years old[1]. However in seed orchards of this species the age of production of male cones has been reduced to only 5 years and female cones from about 12 to 2 - 3 years by using physiologically mature grafting material[1]. The seed production is often unreliable and low; a time lapse of 8 - 10 years between good seed crops is common[1]. The bark is heavily impregnated with resin, and thus much more resistant to decay than the wood[2].
Propagation
Seed - Seedlings can be raised by pregermination techniques or by sowing into beds. A. cunninghamii can also be successfully grafted by using scion budding with material taken from the apical leader of the main stem, or by side-approach grafting and bottle grafting using the apical shoot of the main stem. Grafted branch material produces plagiotropic grafts and has little use other than for pollen production. Seed storage behaviour is orthodox. Mature seeds collected at about 36% mc tolerate desiccation to about 7 % mc or even 2% mc without loss in viability. A germination rate of 43% has occurred after 8 years of hermetic air-dry storage at -15 deg. C. The viability of seeds that have been dried to moisture contents in equilibrium with ambient environment was maintained for 8 years at -9 deg. C to -15 deg. C. Similarly, 50% germination after 50 weeks of air-dry storage at -12 deg. C has been reported. If mature seeds are dried to 5% mc, long-term storage is possible in sealed containers at 3 deg. C. or lower. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Araucaria+cunninghamii>
Pollinators
Wind
References
- [1]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
- [2]The Gymnosperm Database — http://www.conifers.org/index.htm ↩︎A vast amount of information on conifers and families of gymnosperms.
- [3]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.
- [4]Trees Commonly Cultivated in SE Asia — Jensen. M. · FAO Regional Office, Bangkok. · 1999 · ISBN 974-89377-5-5 ↩︎
- [5]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
- [6]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.
- [7]Native Tastes of Australia — http://tasteaustralia.biz/ ↩︎A website with detailed information on around 50 species of native Australian food plants, including recipes.