Araucariaceae – also known as araucarians – is a family of coniferous trees, with three living genera, Araucaria, Agathis, and Wollemia. While the family was distributed globally during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, in their native distribution they are now largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, except for a few species of Agathis in Southeast Asia.
Araucariaceae
Tāne Mahuta ("Lord of the Forest"), a massive Agathis australis tree from New Zealand
Araucaria heterophylla
Agathis robusta
Araucaria is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae. While today they are largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, during the Jurassic and Cretaceous they were distributed globally. There are 20 extant species in New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, eastern Australia, New Guinea, Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
Araucaria
Araucaria araucana with seed cones
Three members of the genus growing together – left to right, A. columnaris, A. cunninghamii and A. bidwillii
A. columnaris sapling with distinctive apical bud.