Aug. 1 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 
THE GENUS ARAUCARIA. 3 
genus is derived from that of a tribe of natives called Araucarians (the 
word signifying freedom), who inhabit the district of South America 
where A. imbricata abounds. 
If A. columnaris holds good as a species, decidedly the most similar 
to it is A. excelsa ; indeed, the difference seems to be so slight that 
many authors have united them under one specific name (A. excelsa). 
In general habit and appearance they so much resemble each other that 
to a casual observer not the slightest difference could be detected, 
without it is in the manner of branching, A. excelsa throwing out its 
branches nearly horizontally and in regular whorls, while those of A. 
columnaris are slightly inclined upwards, but this may not be the case 
in old plants. Loudon considers them synonymous and says, " The A. 
excelsa is a native of New Caledonia, or Queen Charlotte's Island, and 
of a small neighbouring island, which is a mere sandbank only three- 
quarters of a mile in circuit." After being discovered by Captain Cook, 
as mentioned above, on the Isle of Pines it was brought home by 
Brown and Flinders, who found it growing abundantly on the east 
coast of Kew Holland, and the tree was introduced into^ this country 
about 1793. Of all the Araucariasthe A. excelsa is the most beautiful and 
graceful in habit. Its naked tapering trunk, with uniform branches 
clothed with rich green foliage, makes it a very handsome object, The 
leaves are not more than three-quarters of an inch long, awl-shaped, 
and curved upwards. The plant is not hardy, but grows well in a 
greenhouse, where it is fully protected from the frost. There are 
several fine specimens of this beautiful tree in the temperate house of 
the Royal Gardens, Kew, some of them over twenty feet high. These 
trees would have been much taller, but want of accommodation made 
it necessary to cut them down repeatedly. The wood of Araucaria 
excelsa is white, as indeed are most of the coniferous woods ; the upper 
part of the trunk is knotty, while the lower part is invariably unsound 
in old trees. It is however, much used by the natives in house-building 
and similar work. It forms a large tree, averaging from 180 to 230 
leet high. In the Sydney Botanic Garden there are some remarkably 
fine specimens of the Norfolk Island pine ; in beauty and symmetry 
they are said to have no equal ; their perpendicular trunks, the 
regularity of their branching, and being covered with the most beauti- 
ful dense foliage, giving them a drooping feathery appearance. Their 
age is computed to be about fifty or sixty years. The largest of these 
trees has attained a height of seventy-six feet, and a circumference near 
the base of twelve feet, This tree has occasionally borne fruit, the first 
time in 1839. Dr. Bennett, in his 'Gatherings of a Naturalist in 
Australia,' tells us that the first instance of perfect seeds having been 
produced in that colony was in 1857, when the trees at Ash Island, 
Hunter's River, bore female cones. The seeds, upon ripening, scattered 
themselves, taking root and producing young plants, spontaneously, 
thus naturalizing the plant as it were. 
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