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photograph
Agathis ovata (2).
Agathis ovata (Moore ex Veill.) Warb.

Common Names

Scrub kauri (1), kaori de montagne [French] (2).

Taxonomic notes

Syn: A. hypoleuca (Moore) Warb. (1). One of 5 species of Agathis endemic to New Caledonia (2).

Description

"A shrub or small tree 1-8 m tall, often branching from the base, or to 25 m tall with a clear bole for 12 m high. Crown somewhat flattened. Bark with prominent fissures, whitish or tan, interior-bark red-brown. Branches alternate, opposite, or in whorls of 3-4, yellowish-brown. Buds round, with 4 densely imbricate scales. Leaves ovate to ovate-elliptic, dark green, pale or glaucous below, 4-8 cm long by 1-5 cm wide, apex broadly obtuse, petiole flattened, margins slightly recurved. Male strobili cylindrical, glaucous, 3-5 cm long by 1-1.5 cm wide, on a short robust peduncle 4-6 mm long; microsporophylls imbricate, triangular. Female cone globular, to 12 cm long by 10 cm wide, scales brown with a short-pointed umbo. Seeds 9-11 mm long by 8 mm wide, with a broad nut and an oblique wing on one side" (1).

Range

"S New Caledonia: Mt Humboldt to Mt. des Sources, 150-1000 m" (1). Grows in small stands, generally very open, or sometimes in forest (2).

Big Tree

Oldest

Dendrochronology

Just published, and I haven't yet seen: (3).

Ethnobotany

Observations

Remarks

This species is listed as "LR/cd" (lower risk, conservation dependent) by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Trees database, which adds: "The species is scattered in maquis shrubland in a few localities on ultramafic soils in the south. Pressures are exerted by mining activities, fires and also by logging. The species is slow growing but regenerates well where there is no burning. Populations in Rivière Bleue Provincial Park are effectively protected."

Citations

(1) Silba 1986.
(2) Schmid 1981.
(3) Enright, N.J., Goldblum, D. 1998. Stand structure of the emergent conifer Agathis ovata in forest and maquis, Province Sud, New Caledonia. Journal of Biogeography 25(4): 641-648.

[Agathis] [Araucariaceae] [home]

This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/~earlecj/ar/ag/ovata.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.com
Last modified on 2-Mar-1999

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