2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Russians associate Christmas and New Year with snowdrifts in which a fluffy evergreen Christmas tree is buried. Bearded peasants will chop down a poor Christmas tree under the spine and bring it to the house, where it will stay smart for seven or ten days, and then go to firewood or to a dump. But the coniferous tree from the genus Araucaria, which is popularly called the "Living Christmas tree", has a slightly different fate
Araucaria is a genus of coniferous evergreens
To date, botanists have discovered on our planet only twenty-one species of plants belonging to the genus Araucaria. These are tall trees with beautiful coniferous foliage, preferring to live in warm regions. Two species chose South America for their residence, while the rest settled on the lands of Australia and on several islands in the southwestern part of the Pacific Ocean.
Today, plants of the genus Araucaria can be seen in other parts of our small planet, where they were brought by fans, fascinated by the picturesque trees. In areas with cold winters, Araucaria is grown as a houseplant.
I want to tell only about one species of the genus, the official Latin name of which is “Araucaria heterophylla” (“Araucaria heterophylla”). One such beauty unexpectedly met me on the street of Phuket Island (Thailand). Admiring tropical exoticism, I was not ready to meet a tall coniferous tree, which looked like a real miracle, gracefully spreading its powerful coniferous paws next to frail palm trees and a simple flowering dwarf shrub. Unfortunately, I only had a phone, which prevents me from choosing a good location for shooting in sunny weather. Therefore, the whole tree did not work for me. Here is just a small part of it got into the frame:
Araucaria varifolia
I saw such a beautiful ephedra for the first time. It did not look like our spruce, fir, pine. I found the name on the Internet, having learned a lot of interesting things about the irresistible, magnificent creation of nature.
origin of name
Apparently, the first meeting of botanists with plants of the genus took place in Chile, in the region, which the Spaniards called the word "Araucania", where tall conifers grew in natural conditions. Hence the name of the genus of plants was born.
The specific epithet "variegated" reflects an interesting feature of the plant. The shape of the leaves depends on the age of the individual. In young ones, these are short curved needles, similar to the needles of our spruces, located on the stem in a spiral, and in adults, the leaves become shorter and wider, becoming like scales. The tree that I met, judging by the shape of its needles, is still quite young:
Place of Birth
The homeland of Araucaria varifolia is a small island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean called Norfolk. The tree is the emblem of the island and flaunts against the white background of the central part of the national flag, on the sides of which there are two more parts of the flag in the form of green squares.
People call the tree "Norfolk Pine", although pines are very distant relatives of the Araucaria. Also in use are such names as "Star Pine", "Triangular Tree" - for the shape of its crown, "Living Christmas Tree".
Geologists claim that two hundred million years ago, Araucaria grew throughout the earth's land area, being, in particular, food for dinosaurs. But it was able to survive to this day only on one Pacific island. Today, with the help of humans, it is safely grown in many warm regions of the planet, for example, as it turned out, in Thailand.
Useful abilities of Araucaria varifolia
Araucaria is a variegated very impressive tree, tall, with a pyramidal crown, with fluffy picturesque branches. Therefore, since Captain Cook discovered the island for Europeans, to which he gave the name - Norfolk (and this happened in 1774), the tree quickly gained popularity among gardeners all over the world. It's just a pity that the cold winter is fatal for this ephedra.
Araucaria cones mature within 18 months, giving people edible seeds, similar to pine nuts, but larger. I did not notice the cones on the tree I met, apparently, his age is not yet the same.
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