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Agathis

Agathis Temporal range: Paleocene to recent 64.67–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Agathis robusta Eastern Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Gymnospermae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Araucariales
Family:	Araucariaceae
Genus:	Agathis Salisb. 1807
Type species
Agathis loranthifolia Salisb. 1807
Distribution of Agathis species
Synonyms[1]
Dammara (Rumph., 1741) Lam., 1786 ex Link, 1822 Salisburyodendron A.V.Bobrov & Melikyan

Agathis, commonly known as kauriordammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside Wollemia and Araucaria (being more closely related to the former).^[1][2] Agathis was a important genus in early cenozoic gondwana. Its leaves are much broader than most conifers. Kauri gum is commercially harvested from New Zealand kauri.

Description[edit]

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Mature kauri trees have characteristically large trunks, with little or no branching below the crown. In contrast, young trees are normally conical in shape, forming a more rounded or irregularly shaped crown as they achieve maturity.^[3]

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, ascending. The lowest branches often leave annular branch scars when they detach 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, ellipticaltolinear, 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.

Seeds of some species are attacked by the caterpillars of Agathiphaga, some of the most primitive of all living moths.

Uses[edit]

Various species of kauri give diverse resins such as kauri gum. The timber is generally straight-grained and of fine quality with an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio and rot resistance, making it ideal for yacht hull construction. The wood is commonly used in the manufacture of guitars and ukuleles due to its low density and relatively low price of production. It is also used for some Go boards (goban). The uses of the New Zealand species (A. australis) included shipbuilding, house construction, wood panelling, furniture making, mine braces, and railway sleepers. Due to the hard resin of the wood, it was the traditionally preferred material used by Māori for wooden weapons, patu aruhe (fernroot beaters) and barkcloth beaters.^[4]

Evolutionary history[edit]

Within Araucariaceae, Agathis is more closely related to Wollemia than to Araucaria. The oldest fossils currently confidently assignable to Agathis are those of Agathis immortalis from the Salamanca Formation of Patagonia, which dates to the Paleocene, approximately 64.67–63.49 million years ago. Agathis-like leaves are also known from the slightly older Lefipán Formation of the same region, which date to the very end of the Cretaceous.^[5] Other fossils of the genus are known from the Eocene of Patagonia, the Late Paleocene-Miocene of southern Australia, and the Oligocene-Miocene of New Zealand.^[6] Agathis-like remains are also found in the older Bahariya Formation of Egypt.

Species list[edit]

Accepted species^[1]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Agathis atropurpurea	black kauri, blue kauri	Queensland, Australia
	Agathis australis	New Zealand kauri	North Island, New Zealand
	Agathis borneensis	Borneo kauri	western Malesia, Borneo
	Agathis dammara	Sulawesi kauri	Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku Islands
	Agathis flavescens	Tahan Agathis	Peninsular Malaysia
	Agathis kinabaluensis	Kinabalu kauri	Borneo
	Agathis labillardieri	New Guinea kauri	New Guinea
	Agathis lanceolata	Koghi kauri	New Caledonia
	Agathis lenticula	Sabah kauri	Borneo
	Agathis macrophylla (syn. A. vitiensis)	Pacific kauri, dakua	Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands
	Agathis microstachya	bull kauri	Queensland, Australia
	Agathis montana		New Caledonia
	Agathis moorei	white kauri	New Caledonia
	Agathis orbicula	Sarawak kauri	Borneo
	Agathis ovata	Scrub kauri	New Caledonia
	Agathis robusta	Queensland kauri	Queensland, Australia; Papua New Guinea
	Agathis robusta subsp. robusta		Queensland and Papua New Guinea
	Agathis robusta subsp. nesophila	New Guinea kauri	Papua New Guinea
	Agathis silbae		Vanuatu
	Agathis zamunerae		Patagonia, South America Argentina

Formerly included^[1]

Moved to Nageia

1. Agathis motleyi - Nageia motleyi
2. Agathis veitchii - Nageia nagi

The placement of the fossil species "Agathis" jurassica from the Late Jurassic of Australia in this genus is doubtful.^[9]

Gallery[edit]

• 
  Tāne Mahuta, an Agathis australisinWaipoua Forest, the largest tree in New Zealand by volume
• 
  Te Matua Ngahere, an A. australis in Waipoua Forest, the oldest (and 2nd largest) tree in New Zealand
• 
  Trunk of the Yakas kauri (7th largest)
• 
  Agathis lanceolata
• 
  Agathis ovata
• 
  Agathis macrophylla
• 
  Agathis robusta
• 
  Agathis borneensis
• 
  Agathis australis male pollen cone
• 
  Scale from Agathis australis female cone
• 
  Agathis australis cone
• 
  Agathis australis leaves and cones

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agathis.

Wikispecies has information related to Agathis.

• Systematics of Agathis (archived copy)
• Gymnosperm Database: Agathis
• Kauri forestinTe Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
• Threatened Conifers of the World
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309508851_A_reconstruction_of_the_palaeoecology_and_environmental_dynamics_of_the_Bahariya_Formation_of_Egypt