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Hoop Pine
Araucaria cunninghamii ssp. cunninghamii
-27.4606, 152.877
Field Notes
Description:
A beautiful example of a young Hoop Pine with its bizarre, metallic-looking bark (see notes). It belongs to the family Araucariaceae, a very ancient family of coniferous trees. Found in the dry rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland, and also in New Guinea, this species can live up to 450 years and grow to a height of 60 metres. The bark is rough, splits naturally, and peels easily. At one time, the resin from these trees was used by Australian Aborigines as a cement.
Habitat:
Found on the Gold Creek walking trail at Gold Creek Reservoir, which lies just to the west of Brisbane. Freshwater lake and dense native bushland vegetation of dry eucalypt forests and subtropical rainforests. Moderately sunny aspect, but surrounded by much larger eucalypt species like blue, grey and red gums.
Notes:
When I spot a hoop pine, the first thing is do is look at the bark. In young trees, old bark peels off, exposing the "metallic" bronze coloured under-bark. However, as the tree ages, it seems to loose this particular characteristic and the bark becomes horizontally compressed. Here's a previous spotting of a mature tree - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/213616008 The wikipedia link also has a good photo of a trunk with this particular bark feature.
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