Table of Contents
How many species of kauri are there?
The family now includes three genera all naturally growing in the Southern Hemisphere. One of these is known as Agathis. Agathis has 21 tree species that are found in forests from South-East Asia to the western Pacific. All the trees in the Agathis genus are generally known today as kauri.
Is kauri native to Australia?
Queensland kauri is an Australian native softwood with a fine even texture, pale cream to light or pinkish brown heartwood and a straight grain. Queensland kauri pine is one of Australia’s native softwood timber species.
What is the common name for kauri?
Agathis australis
Agathis australis, commonly known by its Māori name kauri (pronounced “Ko-ree”), is a coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae, found north of 38°S in the northern regions of New Zealand’s North Island.
How old is the oldest kauri tree?
between 1,250 and 2,500 years
Tāne Mahuta, also called God of the Forest, is a giant kauri tree (Agathis australis) in the Waipoua Forest of Northland Region, New Zealand. Its age is unknown but is estimated to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years. It is the largest kauri known to stand today.
How much is kauri wood worth?
But if swamp kauri averaged half that price on the market – US$50 ($62) a superfoot – an average kauri tree containing up to 5000 superfeet, or 11.8cu m, would be worth US$250,000 ($310,000).
Is kauri a Podocarp?
Conifers in New Zealand New Zealand’s 20 native conifers are found nowhere else. They belong to four families: the araucarian family, Araucariaceae – New Zealand’s sole member is kauri (Agathis australis) the podocarp family, Podocarpaceae – the largest conifer family in New Zealand, with seven genera and 14 species.
What was kauri wood used for?
Maori used kauri timber for boat building, carving and building houses. The gum was used as a fire starter and for chewing (after it had been soaked in water and mixed with the milk of the puha plant). The arrival of European settlers in the 1700s to 1800s saw the decimation of these magnificent forests.
Who is Tane?
On Tahiti, Tane was the god of peace and beauty….
| Tāne | |
|---|---|
| Parents | Rangi and Papa |
| Siblings | Haumia (Arawa), Rongo, Tangaroa, Tāwhirimātea, Tū, Rūaumoko, Whiro |
| Consorts | Hine-nui-te-pō, Rangahore |
| Offspring | Hine-nui-te-pō, Tiki, Haumia-tiketike (southern Bay of Plenty and parts of the east coast) |
How can you tell swamp kauri?
- Resin canals: absent.
- Tracheid diameter: medium.
- Earlywood to latewood transition: gradual.
- Grain contrast: low.
- Parenchyma: none; contains resinous tracheids (resin plugs) with dark reddish-brown contents which look nearly identical to diffuse parenchyma.
What is kauri good for?
Common Uses: Boatbuilding, furniture, cabinetry, veneer, musical instruments (guitars), and turned objects. Comments: Kauri are among the most massive trees in the world in sheer volume, rivaling the giant redwoods in the Pacific northwest of the United States.
What kind of tree is the kauri tree?
The New Zealand kauri (Agathis australis) belongs to one of the world’s oldest family of conifers, the Araucariaceae (ora-care-ree-a-see) family. This family includes trees like the Monkey Puzzle tree and the very rare Wollemi tree only discovered in Australia in 1994.
Where can I get kauri wood in New Zealand?
Pricing/Availability: The harvesting of standing kauri trees in New Zealand is strictly controlled, and lumber is seldom seen outside of its natural range, with the exception of a type of the wood marketed as ancient kauri or swamp kauri —this wood is obtained from previously fallen trees that have been preserved in New Zealand swamps and bogs.
What kind of habitat does a kauri live in?
In fact, because kauri live so long and their leaves are high in tannins, they modify the soil they live on, and create specialised habitats such as gumlands.
What’s the problem with kauri in New Zealand?
Now kauri are facing a new threat. Kauri dieback is a fungus-type disease, Phytophthora agathidicida (PA), which is having a devastating effect on New Zealand’s kauri forests in Northland, Great Barrier Island and, potentially, the Coromandel Peninsula.