8 
The Queensland Naturalist January, 1939 
due to error, been corrupted to Bidwillii. The Bunya tree 
is therefore strictly not a pine, nor for that matter is the 
hoop pine. Records of the tree’s presence were also made 
by Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt, on the Condamine, Dawson, 
and Burnett Rivers, and between Cleveland and Rocking- 
ham Bays during the period 1844-48. It is interesting to 
note that cones of the tree were about this time sold in 
London at C'ovent Garden for ten guineas each. 
The genus Araucaria, to which the Bunya belongs, 
contains twelve species which are distributed around the 
shores of the South Pacific Ocean. The generic name 
itself is derived from a tribe of South American Indiana 
known as the Araucanos. It was in South America that 
the genus was first discovered, the species native there 
being Araucaria brasiliana in Brazil, and A. imbricata in 
Chile, the latter being known as the monkey puzzle tree 
on account of the intricate nature of its branching. The 
seeds of this species, like the Bunya, are edible. 
On Norfolk Island occurs Araucaria excelsa, the Nor- 
folk Island pine, so popular for avenue plantings in the 
coastal resorts of Australia. Many of the earlier houses 
in Sydney were built of the timber of this tree, which was 
conveyed thither from the penal settlement on the island. 
It is recorded that before settlement was made at Norfolk 
Island, that the ground was so thickly populated with 
pine trees that there was no room to build a hut. The 
advance of settlement has, of course, greatly modified this 
state of affairs. 
In Australia the Araucarias are represented by 
Araucaria bidwillii (the Bunya pine), A. Cunninghamii 
(the hoop pine), and A. cunninghamii var. glauca , the 
last-named tree inhabit the coastal islands and the 
fringing mainland of North Queensland, and is noted for 
the bluish appearance of its foliage and the twisted nature 
of its trunk. Even in good situations it is not of such 
good form as the hoop pine proper, as its malformed nature 
appears to be to a large extent inherent and not solely a 
character due to its exposed habitat. In New Guinea the 
hoop pine ( A . Cunninghamii) is present with another 
species, A. klinkio. Both of these grow on the highlands 
in that country. Araucaria Coohm grows in New 
Caledonia. 
It is considered that the genus to which these trees 
belong, in common with a number of others, had its origin 
in the Antarctic continent, when it was warmer there, and 
was distributed from there up around the borders of the 
Pacific to its present habitats. 
