Araucaria

 ( Dioecious Plants ) 

Araucaria (; original pronunciation: a.ɾawˈka.) is a genus of evergreen trees in the family Araucariaceae. While today they are largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, during the Jurassic and Cretaceous they were globally distributed. There are 20 extant taxon species in New Caledonia (where 14 species are endemism, see New Caledonian Araucaria), eastern Australia (including Norfolk Island), New Guinea, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

The genus is familiar to many people as the genus of the distinctive Chilean pine or monkey-puzzle tree ( Araucaria araucana). No distinct vernacular name exists for the genus. Many are called "pine", although they are only distantly related to true pines, in the genus Pinus.

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Description Araucaria are mainly large trees with a massive erect stem, reaching a height of . The horizontal, spreading branches grow in whorls and are covered with leathery or needle-like leaf. In some species, the leaves are narrow, awl-shaped and lanceolate, barely overlapping each other; in others they are broad and flat, and overlap broadly.

The trees are mostly dioecious, with male and female Conifer cone found on separate trees, though occasional individuals are Plant sexuality or change sex with time.

Michael G. Simpson (2025). 9780123743800, Academic Press. . ISBN 9780123743800

The female cones, usually high on the top of the tree, are globose, and vary in size among species from in diameter. They contain 80–200 large Eating seeds, similar to , though larger. The male cones are smaller, long, narrow to broad cylindrical, and broad.

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Taxonomy The genus is named after the Spanish exonym Araucano ("from Arauco Province") applied to the Mapuche of south-central Chile and south-west Argentina, whose territory incorporates natural stands of a species in this genus identified as A. araucana; the Mapuche people call it pewen, and consider it sacred. Some Mapuche living in the Andes name themselves Pehuenche ("people of the pewen") as they traditionally harvested the seeds extensively for food.

There are four extant sections and two extinct sections in the genus, sometimes treated as separate genera.

(2025). 9780851995342, CAB International. . ISBN 9780851995342

James E. Eckenwalder (2025). 9780881929744, Timber Press. . ISBN 9780881929744

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Extant species

		Araucaria araucana – monkey-puzzle or pehuén	central Chile & western Argentina.
		Araucaria bernieri	New Caledonia
		Araucaria biramulata	New Caledonia
		Araucaria columnaris - Cook pine	New Caledonia
		Araucaria cunninghamii - Moreton Bay pine, hoop pine	Eastern Australia, New Guinea
		Araucaria goroensis	New Caledonia
		Araucaria heterophylla – Norfolk Island pine	Norfolk Island
		Araucaria humboldtensis	New Caledonia
		Araucaria laubenfelsii	New Caledonia
		Araucaria luxurians	New Caledonia
		Araucaria montana	New Caledonia
		Araucaria muelleri	New Caledonia
		Araucaria nemorosa	New Caledonia
		Araucaria rulei	New Caledonia
		Araucaria schmidii	New Caledonia
		Araucaria scopulorum	New Caledonia
		Araucaria subulata	New Caledonia

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Genetic studies Genetic studies indicate that the extant members of the genus can be subdivided into two large – the first consisting of the sections Araucaria, Bunya, and Intermedia; and the second of the strongly monophyletic section Eutacta. Sections Eutacta and Bunya are both the oldest taxa of the genus, with Eutacta possibly older.

:Taxa marked with are extinct.

• Section Araucaria. Leaves broad; cones more than diameter; seed germination hypogeal. Syn. sect. Columbea; sometimes includes Intermedia and Bunya
• Araucaria angustifolia – Paraná pine (obsolete: Brazilian pine, candelabra tree); southern and southeastern Brazil, northeastern Argentina.
• Araucaria araucana – monkey-puzzle or pehuén (obsolete: Chile pine); central Chile & western Argentina.
• Araucaria nipponensis – Japan and Sakhalin (Upper Cretaceous)
• Section Bunya. Contains only one living species. Produces recalcitrant seeds with hypogeal (cryptocotylar) germination,
  Erich Götz (1980). 9783540517948, Springer. . ISBN 9783540517948
  though extinct species may have exhibited epigeal germination.
• Araucaria bidwillii – bunya-bunya; Eastern Australia
• Section Intermedia. Contains only one living species. Produces recalcitrant seeds
• Araucaria hunsteinii – klinki; New Guinea
• Araucaria haastii - New Zealand (Cretaceous)
• Section Eutacta. Leaves narrow, awl-like; cones less than diameter; seed germination epigeal
• Araucaria bernieri – New Caledonia
• Araucaria biramulata – New Caledonia
• Araucaria columnaris – Cook pine; New Caledonia
• Araucaria cunninghamii – Moreton Bay pine, hoop pine; Eastern Australia, New Guinea
• Araucaria goroensis – New Caledonia
• Araucaria heterophylla – Norfolk Island pine; Norfolk Island
• Araucaria humboldtensis – New Caledonia
• Araucaria laubenfelsii – New Caledonia
• Araucaria luxurians – New Caledonia
• Araucaria montana – New Caledonia
• Araucaria muelleri – New Caledonia
• Araucaria nemorosa – New Caledonia
• Araucaria rulei – New Caledonia
• Araucaria schmidii – New Caledonia
• Araucaria scopulorum – New Caledonia
• Araucaria subulata – New Caledonia
• Araucaria lignitici – (Paleogene) Yallourn, Victoria, Australia
• Araucaria famii – (Late Cretaceous) Vancouver Island, Canada.
• Section Yezonia. Extinct. Contains only one species
• Araucaria vulgaris – Japan (Late Cretaceous)
• Section Perpendicula. Extinct. Contains only one species
• Araucaria desmondii - New Zealand (Late Cretaceous)
• incertae sedis
• Araucaria beipiaoensis – Tiaojishan Formation, China (Middle Jurassic)
• Araucaria fibrosa – López de Bertodano Formation, Antarctica (Late Cretaceous)
• Araucaria marensii – La Meseta Formation, Antarctica & Santa Cruz Formation, Argentina Araucaria marensii at Fossilworks.org
  (2025). 9781139576413, Cambridge University Press. . ISBN 9781139576413
• Araucaria nihongii – Upper Yezo Group, Japan (Late Cretaceous)
• Araucaria taieriensis - New Zealand (Late Cretaceous)
• Araucaria brownii - England (Middle Jurassic)
• Araucaria mirabilis – Patagonia (Middle Jurassic)
• Araucaria sphaerocarpa - England (Middle Jurassic)
• Araucaria jeffreyi - Eastern United States (Late Cretaceous)

Araucaria bindrabunensis (previously classified under section Bunya) has been transferred to the genus Araucarites.

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Distribution and paleoecology Members of Araucaria are found in Argentina, Brazil, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Australia, New Guinea, Chile and Papua (Indonesia). The Pine Trees of Lanai Many if not all current populations are relicts, and of restricted distribution. They are found in forest and maquis shrubland, with an affinity for exposed sites. The earliest records of the genus date to the Middle Jurassic, represented by Araucaria mirabilis of Argentina, and Araucaria sphaerocarpa from England. Fossil records show that the genus also formerly occurred in the northern hemisphere until the end of the Cretaceous period.

By far the greatest diversity exists in New Caledonia, likely due to a relatively recent adaptive radiation, as all New Caledonian species are more closely related to each other than they are to other Araucaria. Much of New Caledonia is composed of ultramafic rock with , with low levels of nutrients, but high levels of metals such as nickel. Consequently, its endemic Araucaria species are adapted to these conditions, and many species have been severely affected by nickel mining in New Caledonia and are now considered threatened or endangered, due to their habitat lying in prime areas for nickel mining activities.

Some evidence suggests that the long necks of sauropod dinosaurs may have evolved specifically to browse the foliage of tall trees, including those of Araucaria. An analysis of modern Araucaria leaves found that they have a high energy content but are slow fermenting, making their ancestors a likely attractive target.

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Uses

Some of the species are relatively common in cultivation because of their distinctive, formal symmetrical growth habit. Several species are economically important for timber production.

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Food

The edible large seeds of A. araucana, A. angustifolia and A. bidwillii — also known as Araucaria nuts, and often called, although improperly, pine nuts — are eaten as food, particularly among the Mapuche people of Chile and southwest Argentina, the Kaingang people in Southern Brazil and among Indigenous Australians. In South America Araucaria nuts or seeds are called piñas or piñones in Spanish and pinhões in Portuguese, like pine nuts in Europe.

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Pharmacological activity

Pharmacological reports on genus Araucaria are anti-ulcer, antiviral drug, neuro-protective, anti-depressant and anti-coagulant.

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See also

• Agathis (kauri)
• Wollemia

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External links

Categories: Dioecious Plants, Extant Triassic First Appearances, Conifer Genera

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