Gymnosperms

Scientific Name: Araucaria bidwillii

Common Name/s: Bunya Pine

Description:

A large, erect conifer, 30-50 m high x 10-20 m wide. It is hardy to zone (UK) 9. It is in leaf 12-Jan It is in

flower in June, and the seeds ripen from Sep to October. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by Wind.

Crown pyramidal in younger trees, becoming conspicously dome-shaped in the mature tree, the outline of the crown defined by dense tufts of branchlets and foliage at the branch ends.

As with most other Araucarias, the branches are produced from regular whorls. The bark is dark brown to black, flaking in scales up to 2.5 × 7.5 cm, on mature trees

usually 5-10 cm thick and deeply furrowed. Leaves differ between juvenile and mature trees. Those of juvenile trees (or perhaps,

simply leaves produced in the shade of the forest understory) are glossy, light-green, narrow, 2.5--5 cm long, and stiff with a sharp point. They are arranged in two rows on the branchlets. Leaves of mature trees (leaves produced in the crown and exposed to the sun) are arrayed radially around the branchlet (and often are overlapping), spreading, glossy, dark-green, 0.7-2.8 cm long, lanceolate or triangular-ovate, flattened, coriaceous, lacking a midvein but with numerous, parallel, thin veins; stomatal lines are abaxial.

The Pollen cones, usually appearing in April and maturing in September or October, are are up to 20 cm long, axillary, solitary, cylindric, produced on the ends of short lateral branches.

Seed cones are produced between December and March about 17 months after pollination.

Habit: Araucaria bidwillii shows a classic conical growing habit

Habitat: Restricted to two areas in Queensland, Australia that are separated by over 1,000 km. The EOO is approximately 11,000 km2; 99% of this is in southeastern Queensland as the two northern localities (Mt Lewis and Cannabullen Falls) are very limited in their extent. 

Phenology: Dry Season, Sub-tropical

http://www.conifers.org/ar/Araucaria_bidwillii.php