''Agathis atropurpurea'', commonly known as the blue kauri, and occasionally as the black kauri or purple kauri, is a species of
conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
in the very ancient plant family
Araucariaceae
Araucariaceae – also known as araucarians – is an extremely ancient family of coniferous trees. The family achieved its maximum diversity during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and the early Cenozoic, when it was distributed almost worldw ...
. The family was distributed almost worldwide during the
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
and
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
periods, but is now mostly confined to the
Southern hemisphere. This species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to a small part of northeastern
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Description
''Agathis atropurpurea'' is a large
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
emergent tree growing up to in height, and a
diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid for ...
of up to . The
trunk is cylindrical and very straight, with smooth to flaky bark that is mottled with dark blue, purple, and almost black patches. In very large trees the bark is brown and it may then be confused with the bull kauri, ''
Agathis microstachya'', a species that is both genetically and geographically related. However even large specimens of the blue kauri will usually have some dark patches that enable a positive identification.
The branches are more or less horizontal, and the leaf-bearing twigs are pendant. The leaves are
opposite and
distichous
In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature.
Leaf arrangement
The basic arrangements of leaves on a stem are opposite and alternat ...
, held on very short
petioles measuring long. They are
lanceolate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
to
elliptic
In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special type of ellipse in ...
with fine longitudinal veins, and measure up to .
The male
cones
A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex.
A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...
are cylindrical and measure up to long by wide, and are held on a
peduncle about long. The mature female cones are green,
globular
A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of member ...
, about in diameter with up to 150 scales.
The seeds are tan in colour, around long with wings up to wide.
Taxonomy
This species was first described by the Australian
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
Bernard Hyland
Bernard Hyland (Bernard Patrick Matthew Hyland, born 1937), known as Bernie Hyland, is an Australian botanist.
He has contributed significantly to the understanding of Australian plants, in particular numerous species of his home and workplace ...
, using specimens he collected from the
Bellenden Ker Range
The Bellenden Ker Range, also known as the Wooroonooran Range is a coastal mountain range in Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range it is located between Gordonvale and Babinda.
The whole of the range falls within t ...
in 1972. His paper, titled "A revision of the genus Agathis (Araucariaceae) in Australia", was published in 1978 in the journal ''Brunonia'', which is now known as
''Australian Systematic Botany''.
Etymology
The
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
name ''Agathis'' is from the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
word
''ἀγαθίς'', "ball of thread", a reference to the appearance of the female cones. The
species epithet ''atropurpurea'' is a combination of the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
words
''āter'', "dark", and
''purpura'', "purple", and refers to the dark blue/purple colour of the bark.
Distribution and habitat
The range of ''Agathis atropurpurea'' is confined to a number of small fragmented populations within the
Wet Tropics of Queensland
The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...
, specifically to the cloudy, high altitude, simple microphyll vine-fern forests that occur on the granite
massif
In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
s north and south of
Cairns
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
. These are areas of high rainfall—more than p.a.—at elevations from to , and include places such as
Mount Pieter Botte,
Mount Lewis National Park
Mount Lewis National Park is national park in both the Shire of Mareeba and Douglas Shire of Far North Queensland, Australia. It is adjacent to both Daintree National Park and Mount Spurgeon National Park. It is part of the Wet Tropics of Queens ...
, the
Lamb Range
Lamb Range is a locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Lamb Range had a population of 0.
Geography
The locality takes its name from the mountain range Lamb Range.
The locality that lies to the west of most of the south ...
, the
Bellenden Ker Range
The Bellenden Ker Range, also known as the Wooroonooran Range is a coastal mountain range in Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range it is located between Gordonvale and Babinda.
The whole of the range falls within t ...
, and the high ranges of the western
Atherton Tablelands
The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia.
The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinar ...
.
The blue kauri favours
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
and
rhyolite
Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...
soils, and is often associated with species such as ''
Balanops australiana
''Balanops'' is a group of flowering plants described as a genus in 1871. The nine species are trees or shrubs, found in New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuatu, and northern Queensland. They are dioecious, with separate male and female plants.
The genus ...
'', ''
Ceratopetalum succirubrum
''Ceratopetalum succirubrum'' is a species of plant in the family Cunoniaceae. It is found in Australia, West Papua (Indonesia), and Papua New Guinea. It is threatened by habitat loss. First collected by botanists at Gadgarra on the Atherton Ta ...
'', ''
Ceratopetalum virchowii
''Ceratopetalum'' is a genus of nine species of shrub and tree in the family Cunoniaceae. They are found along the eastern coast of Australia and extend north to New Guinea. Two Australian species are among the best known, one being '' C. apetal ...
'', ''
Doryphora aromatics'', ''
Elaeocarpus ferruginiflorus'', ''
Flindersia bourjotiana'', ''
Syzygium cryptophlebia'', ''
Sundacarpus amarus'', ''
Trochocarpa bellendenkerensis'', ''
Uromyrtus'' species, and ''
Xanthostemon pubescens''.
Conservation
In the state of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, to which this species is endemic, the blue kauri is officially regarded by the
Department of Environment and Science (Queensland)
The Department of Environment and Science is a department of the Queensland Government which is responsible for protecting the state's natural environment, developing the government's science strategy, and driving the government's policy and pr ...
as having no threats and is classified as
least concern (LC)
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
. Nor is it listed in the Queensland Confidential Species list, which seeks to limit publication of location data for at-risk species.
In contrast, the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
(IUCN) has assessed the species as
near-threatened (NT), citing
invasive species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
, the existence of ''
Phytophthora cinnamomi
''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called "root rot", "dieback", or (in certain '' Castanea'' species), "ink disease". The plant pathogen is one of the wo ...
'' in part of the blue kauri's range, and
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
as potential threats to the species. The IUCN notes, however, that no assessment of these potential threats has been conducted, and that the population of the blue kauri is currently stable. Considering that the species is already confined to the highest peaks within its range, the threat of climate change must be considered as real and imminent.
Gallery
File:Agathis atropurpurea trunk Cairns Botanic Gardens January 2021 SF21001.jpg
File:Agathis-atropurpurea-SF22355-03.jpg
File:Conifer - The black kauri or blue kauri, - Agathis atropurpurea (16082593546).jpg
File:Agathis-atropurpurea-SF22355-04.jpg
References
External links
*
*
View a mapof historical sightings of ''Agathis atropurpurea'' at the
Australasian Virtual Herbarium
The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgamat ...
View observationsof this species on
iNaturalist
iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applic ...
See imagesof ''Agathis atropurpurea'' on
Flickriver
Notes
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2709503
atropurpurea
Pinales of Australia
Trees of Australia
Near threatened flora of Australia
Endemic flora of Queensland
Least concern biota of Queensland
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxa named by Bernard Hyland
Plants described in 1978