Agathis
Queensland Kauri (Agathis robusta)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Araucariaceae Genus: Agathis
Species
See text

The genus Agathis, commonly known as kauri or dammar forms a relatively small group of 21 species of evergreen trees in the family Araucariaceae, characteristically with very large trunks and little or no branching for some way up. Young trees are normally quite conical in shape, only upon maturity does the crown become more rounded or irregularly shaped.

The bark is smooth and light grey to grey-brown usually peeling into irregular flakes that become thicker on more mature trees. The branch structure is often horizontal or when larger, becoming more ascending. The lowest branches often leave circular branch scars as they fall off from the lower trunk.

The juvenile leaves in all species are larger than the adult, more or less acute, varying among the species from ovate to lanceolate. Adult leaves are opposite, elliptical to linear, and very leathery and quite thick. Young leaves are often a coppery-red, contrasting markedly with the usually green or glaucous-green foliage of the previous season.

The male pollen cones appear usually only on larger trees after seed cones have appeared. The female seed cones usually develop on short lateral branchlets, maturing after two years. They are normally oval or globe shaped.

Full species list of the genus Agathis:

• Agathis atropurpurea - (Queensland, Australia)
• Agathis australis - Kauri, New Zealand Kauri (North Island, New Zealand)
• Agathis borneensis - (western Malesia)
• Agathis corbasonii - (New Caledonia)
• Agathis dammara (syn. A. celebica) - Bindang (eastern Malesia)
• Agathis endertii - (Borneo)
• Agathis flavescens - (Borneo)
• Agathis kinabaluensis - (Borneo)
• Agathis labilliardieri - (New Guinea)
• Agathis lanceolata - (New Caledonia)
• Agathis lenticula - (Borneo)
• Agathis macrophylla (syn. A. vitiensis) - (Fiji, Vanuatu)
• Agathis microstachya - (Queensland, Australia)
• Agathis montana - (New Caledonia)
• Agathis moorei - (New Caledonia)
• Agathis orbicula - (Borneo)
• Agathis ovata - (New Caledonia)
• Agathis philippinensis - (Philippines, Sulawesi)
• Agathis robusta - Queensland Kauri (Queensland, Australia; New Guinea)
• Agathis silbae - (Vanuatu)
• Agathis spathulata - (New Guinea)

Bark of Agathis robusta at Melbourne Royal Botanic Gardens (leaves belong to another plant)

Uses

Various species of kauri give diverse resins such as kauri copal and Manilla copal, as well as timber, which is straight-grained and of fine quality.

The wood is commonly used in the manufacture of budget-priced guitars.

External links

• Systematics of Agathis (http://www.agathis.info/)
• Gymnosperm Database: Agathis (http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/conifers/ar/ag/index.html)

Agathis is also a genus of ichneumonoid wasps from the braconid family Braconidae.

fr:Agathis