Araucariaceae
Sign in to saveAraucariaceae is a family of conifers with three living genera, Araucaria, Agathis, and Wollemia. While the family's native distribution is now largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, except for a few species of Agathis in Malesia, it was formerly widespread in the Northern Hemisphere during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
AI overview
Araucariaceae is a family of conifer trees that includes three living genera and was once common across both hemispheres during the age of dinosaurs, though today it's found mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. These ancient trees matter because they represent a surviving lineage from Earth's prehistoric past and provide insights into how plant distribution has changed over millions of years.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Taxonomy · GBIF
FAMILY
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassPinopsida
- OrderPinales
- FamilyAraucariaceae
via GBIF · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Araucariales
- Image
- Araucaria araucana by Scott Zona - 002.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- P105
- family
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Description
- Classification and genera
- Phylogeny
- Distribution and habitat
- Uses
- Fossil record
- See also
- References
- Further reading
Araucariaceae is a family of conifers with three living genera, Araucaria, Agathis, and Wollemia. While the family's native distribution is now largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, except for a few species of Agathis in Malesia, it was formerly widespread in the Northern Hemisphere during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
==Description== thumb|upright=0.9|right|Tāne Mahuta ("Lord of the Forest"), a massive [[Agathis australis tree from New Zealand]] Members of Araucariaceae are typically extremely tall evergreen trees, reaching heights of or more. They can also grow very large stem diameters; a New Zealand kauri tree (Agathis australis) named Tāne Mahuta ("The Lord of the Forest") has been measured at tall with a diameter at breast height of . Its total wood volume is calculated to be , making it the third-largest conifer after Sequoia and Sequoiadendron (both from the Cupressaceae subfamily Sequoioideae).