Costa Rica!

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Conifers
Posts: 13147
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Northumbs

Re: Costa Rica!

Post by Conifers »

Araucaria columnaris (Coral Reef Araucaria; native to New Caledonia but widely planted in tropical areas) in the first pic.
Troppoz

Re: Costa Rica!

Post by Troppoz »

Yes! Definitely more!

Con Araucaria heterophylla has the same slender habit when grown in tropical regions and I find it very hard to distinguish between the 2 up here. What makes you sure its columnaris?
Conifers
Posts: 13147
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Northumbs

Re: Costa Rica!

Post by Conifers »

Hi Sean - it's easy to recognise them when they're mature, from the crown shape - Araucaria heterophylla is straighter, and has a broader crown with more widely spaced branches, while A. columnaris is slenderer, and commonly has a somewhat sinuous trunk.

There's an awful lot of mis-named specimens around though, most often A. columnaris wrongly thought to be A. heterophylla. The latter is decidedly rare in cultivation outside of Australia and NZ, particularly so in the Americas where A. columnaris is overwhelmingly dominant in trade (even though often sold as A. heterophylla!).

A. columnaris:
Image
Image

A. heterophylla:
Image
Image
Image

Pics from wiki commons, A. columnaris by Fourrure and Thomas@BOD respectively; A. heterophylla all by bertknot; cc-by-sa license
otorongo
Posts: 1434
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 5:12 pm
Location: sub-subtropical London

Re: Costa Rica!

Post by otorongo »

The ones in the last photo are very common in Spain.
Troppoz

Re: Costa Rica!

Post by Troppoz »

Con I know what columnaris looks like, Im just not convinced that the one in the first photo is definitely columnaris and not heterophylla growing in a tropical climate. The foliage of heterophylla and columnaris sets them apart, you can clearly distinguish them up close with heterophylla having softer more closely packed leaves than columnaris which is how I know that the ones that grow in Darwin are heterophylla.

Ill try to take some photos of heterophylla that grow around here. Like I said in the tropics they dont have the same habit as they do in temperate climates. They grow very straight and narrow much like columnaris, I think their spindliness is related to a faster rate of growth. Its the same with A. bidwillii and cunninghamii in Darwin, they are just spindly trees all trunk and few branches whereas in cooler climes they are broad magnificent trees.

There is an avenue in Adelaide of mature Araucarias of both species and they are unmistakeable, but in the tropics they look very very similar.


*EDIT* The wonders of Google Streetview!

Heterophylla and columnaris side by side in Adelaide:

http://goo.gl/maps/bDHBY

Couldnt get a heterophylla on street view, the places where I know they grow arent covered but here is a bidwilli showing how they grow up here:

http://goo.gl/maps/3xsVn
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