Araucaria angustifolia (Paraná Pine, Brazil Pine, Pinho do Brasil)

The Brazilian araucaria or Brazil Pine (Araucaria angustifolia) is one species from the genus Araucaria in the family Araucariaceae.

The Brazil Pine is an evergreen tree that can reach a height from 100 to 133 feet, rarely up to 167 feet and trunk diameter of more than 3 feet. On the straight, cylindrical trunk are horizontaly arranged branches. The branches in whorls of 4 to 8. Trees in dense stands are unbranched up to 83 feet. The shape of the tree changed significantly with the age of the tree. Young trees have a conical, densely needled corwn. Old trees have aflattened, umbrella-shaped crown, which has only more frequent tufted needles at the ends of the topmost branches. The right angles of the outgoing trunk branches are lively in groups of 4 to 8 branches. The tree can reach an age of up to 600 years.

The thick, up to 6 inches, gray-brown bark of the trunk is fine-scaly, horizontally banded and resinous. The light to dark green leaves are about 1.6 to 2.4 inches long and 4 to 10 millimeter wide at the base. They have a triangular shape with visible until lanceolate midrib and pungent tip. On both sides of the leaf are in irregular rows of stomata. The leaves are about 10 to 15 years on the tree.

The Brazilian araucaria is usually dioecious, rarely monoecious. It is at puberty around 15 years and is wind-pollinatined. The male cylindrical, brown cones are 3.2 to 6 inches long and 0.8 to 1.6 inches wide with overlapping scales. They are terminally on leafy side shoots. The wingless pollen ripe in September/October. The spherical female cones are 7.2  to 10 inches long and approx. 5.4 inches wide. They sit terminally on short branches. The sphercial cones are initally green, later turning brown, and (when fresh) about 1 kg heavy, they require 2 to 3 years to ripe. The cones are conspicuously large, they have a diameter of 4 to 12 inches. One cone contains 20 to 150 lanceolate bulbous seeds. The wingend, light brown seeds are 0.8 to 3.2 inches long and about 0.8 inches wide. The weight of thousand seeds varies from 4.7 to 9.1 kilograms. The seeds are similar to pine nuts, are edible. The Brazil Pine extends also by stick swings.

The Brazil Pine occurs in one humid temperate, subtropical climate without dry season. The extreme temperatures range between 95°F and 1o°F. Origins from the coldest region should have survived even 0°F in Austria. It is hardy only in the mildest regions of Germany and on Heligolandt. But also hybrids between Araucaria angustifolia and Araucaria araucana do exist, between the Brazil Pine annd the Chilean Pine, they should be hardier than the Brazil Pine and grow faster than the Chilean Pine.

We do have two specimens, the larger was planted in 2008 and the smaller in 2011. Also in the neighbourhood some specimens do exist.

Araucaria angustifolia in February 2009, planted in 2008.

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Created by Joachim Jaeck on October 13th, 2013