Species of Araucaria

Araucaria argentea

The leaves of the silver-gray Araucaria are, as the name suggests, silver-gray. It is a weeping Araucaria with drooping branches.

Araucaria araucana

Also known as the Norfolk cedar, it is about 30-50 cm tall. Its leaves are lanceolate with curved tips, densely grown on the upper part of the main branches, arranged in a shingle-like manner, and 5 cm long. The leaves on the side branches are 2.5 cm long, with dark green gloss on both sides, very similar to the Cryptomeria fortunei. The cones are upright, and the balls are round or oval in the shape of a human head.

Araucaria serrata

It is also known as Araucaria heterophylla and Norfolk Araucaria. In Guangdong, the fine-leaved Araucaria is also called monkey cypress. It likes the sun and is cold-resistant. It has an upright trunk and branches that extend horizontally and are arranged in whorls. The leaves are subulate-shaped, slightly flattened on both sides, 7-18 mm long, and pointed at the ends.

The cones are nearly spherical, with the tips of the bracts curved upward. It is native to Norfolk Island, Australia, and has been introduced to China.

Norfolk Araucaria is an excellent ornamental tree in gardens. It can reach a height of over 30 meters when planted in the ground. It likes warmth and sunlight, and can withstand both high temperatures of 40°C and low temperatures of minus 5°C. It can survive in the open air around the 27° north latitude line.

Araucaria arganica

It is also called tower cypress, foreign thorn cypress, broad-leaved Araucaria, and lanceolate Araucaria. It is a tree that can reach a height of 50 meters in its native habitat.

The bark is thick, dark gray-brown, the branches are flat, and the lateral twigs are drooping. The twigs are green, smooth and hairless.

The leaves are ovate-lanceolate, 18-35 mm long. The leaves on young trees and nutrient branches are longer and more sparsely arranged than those on fruit branches and old trees. The leaves in the middle of the twigs are longer than those at the two ends, and the leaves on old trees and at both ends of the twigs are more densely arranged.

The fruit is spherical, and the tip of the bracts is triangular and pointed and recurved backwards. The seeds are enlarged and exposed at the tip, oval in shape, and wingless on both sides.