''Agathis silbae'' 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 family Araucariaceae. It is found only on the island of

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

.''Agathis silbae'' de Laub.
''

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

''. Retrieved 7 January 2024. The species is the Cumberland Peninsula and

Mount Tabwemasana Mount Tabwemasana is the highest peak in Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The arc ...

, also known as Santo Peak, on the west coast of Espiritu Santo, from 450 to 760 meters elevation. It is a large emergent tree in lower montain rainforest on the wetter western and northwestern slopes of Espiritu Santo's central mountain range, with an average annual rainfall of about 4,500 mm. Associated trees include ''

Calophyllum neo-ebudicum ''Calophyllum neoebudicum'' is a species of tree in the Calophyllaceae family. It is found in American Samoa, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of V ...

Cryptocarya turbinata ''Cryptocarya turbinata'' is a species of flowering plant in the laurel family, Lauraceae. It is a tree native to Fiji, Niue, the Samoan Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, Ré ...

, Dysoxylum'' sp., ''

Myristica ''Myristica'' is a genus of trees in the family Myristicaceae. There are over 150 species, distributed in Asia and the western Pacific. The type species of the genus, and the most economically important member, is ''Myristica fragrans'' (the nut ...

'' sp., and '' Podocarpus'' sp. The species is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, and is assessed as near-threatened. It has estimated

extent of occurrence Extent may refer to: Computing * Extent (file systems), a contiguous region of computer storage medium reserved for a file * Extent File System, a discontinued file system implementation named after the contiguous region * Extent, a chunk of st ...

(EOO) of about 2,000 km² and an estimated

area of occupancy Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open s ...

(AOO) of more than 10 km² and less than 100 km². The species was described in 1987, and is named after New York botanist John Silba. The species is accepted by

. The Forestry Department in Vanuatu recognise it as a synonym of ''

Agathis macrophylla ''Agathis macrophylla'' (also ''Agathis silbae'') known as Pacific kauri, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree native to the islands of the southwestern Pacific Ocean in tropical humid lowlands and lower montane regions, notably in Fiji, Vanuatu, the ...

''.'Plant Nazis' hunt for outlawed trees
''New Zealand Herald'', 14 October 2012

References

silbae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic flora of Vanuatu Plants described in 1987 Taxa named by David John de Laubenfels {{conifer-stub