Notice

Colin Mills, compiler of the Hortus Camdenensis, died in late November 2012 after a short illness. As he always considered the Hortus his legacy, it is his family's intention to keep the site running in perpetuity. It will not, however, be updated in the near future.

Araucaria cunninghamii D.Don

Frost-tender evergreen conical or columnar tree with whorled branches with characteristic tufts of young shoots at the tips and sides, spirally-arranged, needle-like young leaves, crowded, overlapping mature leaves, and ovoid female cones, to 10cm long, with smaller, cylindrical male cones.  To 50m.  [RHSE, Hortus, FNSW].

Horticultural & Botanical History

Introduced to Britain before Araucaria bidwillii but I am unsure of the date.  ‘Grows naturally in warm temperate riverine and costal rainforest or as a pioneer in subtropical forest, on poor soils from the Macleay River in N New South Wales to Townsville and offshore islands including New Guinea, occasionally close to the seashore.  Widely grown in the nineteenth century in public parks and gardens; now rarely planted in SE Australia. […] The timber, grown in rainforest plantations in N New South Wales and S Queensland, is used mostly for plywood, but also for joinery, furniture and boat-building.  More recently this species has been used experimentally for agroforestry.’  [HFSEA v.1 p.150].

History at Camden Park

Listed in all published catalogues [C.9/1843].  An iconic tree in the Camden Park garden with a number of mature specimens.

Notes

Published Jan 24, 2009 - 03:44 PM | Last updated Jul 14, 2010 - 02:34 PM

The photograph is of a mature tree at Camden Park.  George Thomas 2007.

Araucaria cunninghamii D.Don | Camden Park gardens | George Thomas 2007

Family Araurcariaceae
Category
Region of origin

Eastern Australia

Synonyms
  • Eutassa cunninghamii (G.Don) Spach 

Common Name

Hoop pine, Moreton Bay pine

Name in the Camden Park Record

Araucaria Cunninghamii - Moreton Bay pine 

Confidence level high