Chilean araucaria
| Chilean araucaria | ||||||||||||
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Mature trees of the Chilean araucaria ( Araucaria araucana ) with Llaima volcano |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Araucaria araucana | ||||||||||||
| ( Molina ) K. Koch |
The Chilean Araucaria ( Araucaria araucana ), and monkey-puzzle tree , Chile pine , snake tree , shed fir , monkey tail tree or Chilean jewelry fir and Monkey Puzzle Tree called, is a plant of the genus of monkey-puzzle trees ( Araucaria ) in the family of Araucariaceae (Araucariaceae).
Fossil finds of related species of the recent Araucaria date to an age of 90 million years (genus Wollemia ), making the Araucariaceae family one of the oldest tree families in the world.
The Chilean araucaria was made famous in Europe by the biologist and physician Archibald Menzies around 1795. The English-language trivial name "Monkey Puzzle Tree" comes from a comment by an Englishman around 1800 who said that climbing this tree with its dagger-like leaves would be an almost impossible task even for a monkey (although there are no monkeys in the natural range of the Chilean araucaria ). In Mapudungun , the Mapuche language , this tree is called pewen , Pehuén in Spanish ; this term is used as an alternative in the English language.
description
Habitus
The Chilean araucaria is an evergreen tree that reaches heights of 30 to 40, rarely up to 50 meters, and trunk diameters of 1 to 2 meters in its homeland. Chilean araucarias grow very slowly; the annual growth is rarely more than 30 centimeters. They reach a great age, so that there were 1,300 to 2,000 year old specimens. Trees around 500 years old were mostly used as timber. The tree forms several deep roots and an egg-shaped to umbrella-shaped crown . All branches stand together in whorls of 3 to 7 branches and go horizontally from the trunk. They are very flexible. After about 100 years, the lower branches are shed and the trunk becomes visible below; old trees are often only branched at the top. The trunk is always straight and cylindrical. The branches are fresh green and densely covered with needles.
Foliage
Twigs, branches and the trunks of young trees are covered like roof tiles with the very hard and leathery, scaly, glossy dark green leaves . The triangular leaves are 2.5 to 3 inches long and 1.5 to 2 inches wide. They are sharply pointed into a brown thorn and somewhat yellow on the edges. They have stomata on the top and bottom. The leaves are arranged in a spiral on the branch.
Bark and bark
The 10 to 14 centimeter thick bark with dark gray bark offers the Chilean araucaria protection from fire and the heat of hot ashes after volcanic eruptions . It accounts for up to 25% of the trunk volume.
Flowers, cones and seeds
The Chilean araucarias are single- sexed ( monoecious ) or dioecious ( diocesan ) and are male and female at the age of 15 . The male cones , standing individually or in groups, are cone-shaped, dark brown, about 8 to 12 centimeters long, 4 to 5 centimeters wide and remain on the tree for months after the pollen begins to flow in June. They have spirally arranged, roof-tile-like overlapping, thorny scales. The spherical female cones, called cabezas (Spanish for "heads") appear individually on the top of the branches and ripen in the second year. They are 10 to 18 centimeters long and 15 to 20 centimeters in diameter, are initially green with golden yellow thorns and later become brown cones that break open on the tree and then release up to 200 wingless, reddish-brown seeds . These are called piñones ("pine nuts"), are four to five centimeters long and between 1.5 and two centimeters wide. They have a slightly flattened, oblong-wedge-shaped outline. The thousand grain weight varies between 3,300 and 5,000 g.
Wood
The color of the yellow ocher heartwood differs only slightly from the sapwood . The annual rings are difficult to see. The density of the wood is 0.67 g / cm³. It has favorable mechanical properties and is easy to work with.
distribution and habitat
The Chilean Araucaria comes from the Andes in Chile ( Región de la Araucanía ) and Argentina , more precisely from southern Chile and Patagonia .
The Chilean araucaria is evergreen and grows in a temperate climate at altitudes of 600 to 1700 meters. The precipitation is between 1,000 and 4,500 mm per year. The extreme temperatures are between −20 ° C and +30 ° C. In Europe , the araucaria is only hardy in the milder areas of northwestern Europe , where it reaches heights of up to 30 to 50 meters. It thrives satisfactorily in the warmest locations in Germany (for example the botanical garden near Karlsruhe Palace ). Even along the fjord coast of northern southern Norway, for example in Ålesund and between Ålesund and Stordal , there are impressive cone-forming specimens.
use
Use of wood
The high-quality wood is used, among other things, for building houses, boats and bridges. It is also used as a veneer.
Use as food
The native Indian tribes, especially the Mapuche tribe of the Pehuenchen , whose name is derived from the name of the tree, have survived the winters in the mountains by harvesting and storing these piñones as their practically sole food. The shell can be peeled off when cooked, similar to an almond ; they taste like a mixture of potato , almond and peanut .
As part of government support, needy families in southern Chile are allocated a piece of land with araucarias and can live from the harvest themselves and sell the excess seeds. To do this, in the autumn months (mostly March) they move their tents into the mountains and use a lasso to pick up the fruit cones from the tree to collect the fruit.
Use as an ornamental wood
Especially in the British Isles , but also in other mild areas of Europe, the Chilean araucaria is planted as a park and ornamental tree due to its very exotic appearance . It is also used for this purpose in other parts of the world.
When replanting, it is important to ensure that it receives enough water. Otherwise it does not require any special care.
Habit of the Chilean araucaria
Group in the Main-Taunus Arboretum
Araucarias in Huerquehue National Park , Chile
Araucarias in Villarrica National Park , Chile
Hazard and protection
Because of the long and straight trunk, the tree is often felled as timber and is threatened by clear-cutting in Chile . The trade is now banned worldwide, the araucaria is listed on the Red List as "endangered". A strict ban on use was issued in Chile . The species is also protected in Argentina , but reports have been made that it is used outside of protected areas.
Taxonomy
It was first published in 1782 under the name ( Basionym ) Pinus araucana by Juan Ignacio Molina . The new combination to Araucaria araucana (Molina) K. Koch was published in 1873 by Karl Heinrich Koch . Synonyms for Araucaria araucana (Molina) K. Koch are: Araucaria imbricata Pav. , Araucaria balansae Brong. & Griseb. , Araucaria chilensis (Lam.) Mirb. , Araucaria dombeyi A.Rich.
swell
literature
- Claudio Donoso, Antonio Lara, Diego Alarcon: Araucaria araucana . In: Peter Schütt, Horst Weisgerber, Hans J. Schuck, Ulla Lang, Bernd Stimm, Andreas Roloff: Lexicon of Conifers. Distribution - Description - Ecology - Use; the great encyclopedia . Nikol, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-933203-80-5 , p. 93-98 .
- Christopher J. Earle: Araucaria araucana. In: The Gymnosperm Database. March 23, 2020, accessed on March 24, 2020 .
- Hubertus Nimsch: Araucaria - All kinds of the genus in pictures and text . Kessel, Remagen 2011, ISBN 978-3-941300-30-9 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Entry pewen ( memento of October 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: Alberto Trivero: Diccionario Mapudungun-Español. Mondovì 1998 (Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary).
Web links
- Araucaria araucana inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014.3. Posted by: A. Premoli, P. Quiroga, M. Gardner, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- Short German description of the Chilean araucaria.
- Fossil Araucarias in the Mineral Atlas
- Data sheet Araucaria araucana near Chilebosque . (Spanish)