araucaria

araucaria
araucarian, adj.
/ar'aw kair"ee euh/, n.
any of several coniferous trees of the genus Araucaria, of warm regions. Cf. monkey puzzle, Norfolk Island pine.
[1825-35; < NL, named after Arauc(o) province in central Chile; see -ARIA]

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Any pinelike coniferous plant (see conifer) of the genus Araucaria (family Araucariaceae).

Found in South America, the Phoenix Islands, and Australia, araucaria trees are magnificent evergreens, with whorled branches and stiff, flattened, pointed leaves. Common species are the monkey puzzle tree and the Norfolk Island pine, often grown as a houseplant. Several species are cultivated on the Pacific coast of the U.S. and in southern Florida. See also pine.

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▪ plant genus
      genus of about 19 species of pinelike coniferous plants in the family Araucariaceae. The trees are magnificent evergreens, with apparently whorled branches and stiff, flattened, pointed leaves. They are found in Brazil, Chile, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, and Australia. The name of the genus is derived from Arauco, the name of a district in southern Chile where the trees were first discovered. A. araucana, the Chile pine—or monkey puzzle tree, as it was called because it was hard to climb—was introduced into Europe in the late 18th century and is extensively cultivated there. The tree grows to a height of 50 metres (150 feet) in the cordilleras of Chile. The cones are from 20 to 22 cm (8 to 8.5 inches) broad and 17 to 19 cm (7 to 7.5 inches) long. The wood of the tree is hard and durable.

      A. araucana, as well as other members of the genus, is cultivated on the Pacific coast of the United States and also in some cases in southern Florida. They are valued for the conspicuous growth habits that set them apart from nearly all other conifers. A. excelsa, the Norfolk Island pine, a native of Norfolk Island and New Caledonia, finds some use as a houseplant during its sapling stage, because of the beauty of its symmetrically tiered growth. It is not often found out of doors in the United States, where A. cunninghamii, the Moreton Bay pine, A. bidwillii, the bunya pine, and A. angustifolia, the Paraná pine are more frequently found.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Araucaria — Araucaria …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Araucaria — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda ? Araucaria Araucaria araucana …   Wikipedia Español

  • Araucaria — (de «Arauco», región de Chile donde nace este árbol; Araucaria excelsa) f. Árbol conífero que se cultiva en jardines y parques, cuyas ramas, horizontales, crecen en pisos, formando una copa cónica. ≃ Pehuén. * * * araucaria. (De Arauco, región de …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • araucaria — [ arokarja ] n. m. • 1860; araucaire 1806; lat. bot., de Arauco, province du sud du Chili ♦ Arbre d ornement d origine andine (araucariacées) au tronc et aux branches couverts d écailles, aux feuilles écailleuses, appelé aussi désespoir des… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • araucaria — ARAUCÁRIA s.f. invar. Specie de conifer originar din America de Sud şi Australia (Araucaria angustifolia). [pr.: ra u ] – Din fr. araucaria. Trimis de romac, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  araucária s. f. invar. (sil. rau , ri a) Trimis de siveco,… …   Dicționar Român

  • araucaria — (De Arauco, región de Chile). f. Árbol de la familia de las Abietáceas, que crece hasta 50 m de altura, con ramas horizontales cubiertas de hojas verticiladas, rígidas, siempre verdes, que forman una copa cónica y espesa, flores dioicas poco… …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • araucaria — [ar΄ô ker′ē ə, er΄ô ker′ē ə] n. [ModL < Sp Arauco: see ARAUCANIAN] any of a genus (Araucaria) of the araucaria family of cone bearing trees with flat, scalelike needles, native to the Southern Hemisphere and grown as ornamentals in other… …   English World dictionary

  • Araucarĭa — (A. Juss., Andentanne), Pflanzengatt. aus der Familie der Fichtenbäume (Abietineae), zur Diöcie Monadelphie L.; Arten: A. excelsa, A. imbricata, hohe, schöne Bäume, mit immergrünen, dachziegelförmigen Blättern, quirlförmigen Hauptästen auf den… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Araucaria — Ar au*ca ri*a, n. [Araucania, a territory south of Chili.] (Bot.) A genus of tall conifers of the pine family. The species are confined mostly to South America and Australia. The wood cells differ from those of other in having the dots in their… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Araucária — is a city in Paraná, Brazil. It is located at around coord|25|35|34|S|49|24|36|W …   Wikipedia

  • Araucarĭa — Juss. (Andentanne), Gattung der Koniferen, immergrüne, hohe Bäume mit regelmäßig wirtelständigen Ästen, schuppen oder kurznadelförmigen Blättern, am Ende gleich oder abweichend beblätterter verkürzter Laubzweige stehenden Blüten, von denen die… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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