152 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFERiE 



Araucaria Beccarii, Warburg. ^ 



Araucaria Cunninghamii, Beccari [not Alton] ; A, Cunninghamii, var. 

 papuana, Laut. 



A handsome tree, 70-80 ft. high in New Guinea, allied to 

 A. Cunninghamii but differing in its less symmetrical branching 

 and the absence of the candelabra-like habit peculiar to A. 

 Cunninghamii. '^ The'leaves of mature trees are about t in. long, 

 and about iV in. wide at the base, the apex sharp-pointed and 

 reflexed. The cones are said to be much larger than those of 

 A. Cunninghamii and the cone-scales longer, with a narrower 

 base and more pointed apex. 



Found on the Arfak Mountains in N.W. Dutch New Guinea. 



Araucaria Bidwillii, Hooker. (Fig, 30.) 



BUNYA-BUNYA. 



A tree up to 150 ft. high, with a trunk 3-4 ft. in diameter. 

 Young trees pyramidal, symmetrical, and densely branched. 

 Lateral bra7ichlets long and pendent. Bark thick, resinous, 

 outer bark scaling off in thin layers. Young shoots green. Leaves 

 spirally arranged, overlapping, those of sterile shoots lance- 

 shaped, up to 2 in. long and i'';-n, in. wide, dark green, stiff, 

 margins entire, apex narrowing into a long, stiff point ; on fertile 

 shoots and on the higher branches shorter, stiffer, incurved, 

 more closely arranged, often less than 1 in. long. In both cases 

 stomata are present in regular lines on the under surface and in 

 irregular hnes above. Male and female fioivers are usually on 

 different trees, occasionally on the same tree. Male catkins 

 up to 6-7 in. long, and \ in. wide, produced near the points of the 

 branches on the upper parts of the tree. Cones erect, borne on 

 the higher branches, elliptical or globular, up to 12 in. long, 

 9 in. wide, and sometimes 10 lb. in weight, containing up to 150 

 seeds ; scales numerous, 4 in. long, 3 in. wide, the apex drawn 

 out into a long, recurved point. AS^eefZ large, pear-shaped, 2-2| in. 

 long, and over 1 in. wide in the widest part, maturing the third 

 year, wings rudimentary. 



A. Bidivillii more closely resembles the S. American species 

 than the other species from Australasia. It differs from A. imbri- 

 rata in its less rigid leaves and by the looser arrangement of 

 the fohage on the sterile branches. 



It is a native of the Coast District of Queensland and was 

 brought to notice in 1838 by Mr. Andrew Petrie, Superintendent 

 of Government Works at Moreton Bay. He gave specimens 

 to Mr. J. S. Bidwill, who brought them to Kew, where they were 

 described by Sir W. J. Hooker in 1843. 



^ Monsunia, i, 187 (1900) ; Gibbs, Phytogeogr. and FL of the Arfak Moun- 

 tains, 83 (1917). 



