Araucaria species- Chota Kashmir garden, Mumbai

 

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¿ Araucaria ? sp.

Dear friends, I hope this burnt photo gives a clue – hoping it to be species of Araucaria.
at Chota Kashmir garden, Mumbai on 11 MAR 07 

I think this is the common Araucaria heterophylla

I too think it as Araucaria heterophylla

… many many thanks … I too have the feeling it must be Araucaria heterophylla.

May I know how many and what species of Araucaria can be found in our country and how to identify them?

Exactly this type of question I was expecting during the fortnightly episode not only about this but other species of gymnosperms too.

I have gathered some of the information about Gymnosperms from a very interesting book  : “The secret Life of Trees” by Colin Tudge.

I would like to quote a sentence from the book related to above matter.

India is strangely deprived of wild, native conifers. Conifers grow very well in India – in plantations. But apart from a few Eurasian types on the Himalayas, the only living native is Nageia wallichiana of the southern hemisphere podocarp family in the Western ghats in the southwest of the country.

He further says that…..

The reson might behistorical. India was wiped clean about 60 million years ago by the huge deccan volcanoes, which buried a greater part of the subcontinent in lava.The angiosperms, by then well established, seem to have been the first to get back in to the devastated land(although this idea clearly does not chime well with the conifers’ reputation as outstanding pioneers.

When you say native conifers then it is different. If you say conifers are distributed in wild in India then it means a different thing. India does have many conifers, including some species of Pinus, Dedrus, Taxus, Picea etc….

Thank you so much for this very interesting as well as enlightening quote. I wondered if it was possible to id an Araucaria merely by general appearance, without details on bark, leaves, cones etc. As i searched the Indian species i came across –
  1. bidwillii – http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/242955
  2. angustifolia – http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/228765
  3. cunninghamii – http://indiabiodiversity.org/observation/show/303968
  4. columnaris – http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/242956
One site informed heterophylla is close relative to columnaris. and i was wondering how to differentiate them – http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph27.htm

Isn’t it very interesting that present India is full of foreign flora, including our very common vegetables too !?

As per my search, the following species are cultivated in India & Araucaria heterophylla may not be growing in India (One can see the details by clicking on the links). I think we need to check & correct our postings of Araucaria heterophylla so far on the group: 
 
Gardening in India By George Marshall Woodrow, G Marshall (1999- Araucaria bidwillii, Araucaria cookii R.Br. ex Endl. synonym of Araucaria columnaris (G.Forst.) Hook., Araucaria excelsa (Lamb.) R.Br. synonym of Araucaria columnaris (G.Forst.) Hook., Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D.Don)

Trees of Delhi: A Field Guide By Pradip Krishen (2006- Identifying Delhi’s Christmas tree- Araucaria columnaris & not Araucaria heterophylla)

Floriculture in India By Gurcharan Singh Randhawa, Amitabha Mukhopadhyay (1986- Araucaria bidwillii, Araucaria cookii R.Br. ex Endl. synonym of Araucaria columnaris (G.Forst.) Hook., Araucaria excelsa (Lamb.) R.Br. synonym of Araucaria columnaris (G.Forst.) Hook., Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D.Don)

Species with description & keys in Flora of Pakistan :

  • Araucaria columnaris (Forster)Hook. f.
  • Araucaria cunninghamii Sweet,

    • Species with distribution in annotated checklist of Flowering plants of Nepal :

    Araucaria bidwillii Hook.

    Thanks … for raising the query about distribution of species of Araucaria in India, and for the information you found with your study.

    Thanks to all for putting your thoughts in this post.

    Thanks to you too … for your study and thoughts.

    When I posted this lone burnt out photo – I was under the impression that in Mumbai gardens there would be one species which is popular and planted as an ornamental Christmas tree. My assumption seems to be totally wrong !

    While the study is welcome, the identification of plant in the post seems to be logically and scientifically not a good idea.

    Araucaria heterophylla is there in Lalbagh, Bangalore.
    I have provided links for it.

    Following links say otherwise:
     
    Gardening in India By George Marshall Woodrow, G Marshall (1999- Araucaria bidwillii, Araucaria cookii R.Br. ex Endl. synonym of Araucaria columnaris (G.Forst.) Hook., Araucaria excelsa (Lamb.) R.Br. synonym of Araucaria columnaris (G.Forst.) Hook., Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D.Don)

    Trees of Delhi: A Field Guide By Pradip Krishen (2006- Identifying Delhi’s Christmas tree- Araucaria columnaris & not Araucaria heterophylla)

    Floriculture in India By Gurcharan Singh Randhawa, Amitabha Mukhopadhyay (1986- Araucaria bidwillii, Araucaria cookii R.Br. ex Endl. synonym of Araucaria columnaris (G.Forst.) Hook., Araucaria excelsa (Lamb.) R.Br. synonym of Araucaria columnaris (G.Forst.) Hook., Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D.Don)

    There is no Araucaria found in wild in India. All of them were introduced to indian gardens during or after British. All info on indian biodiversity portal are from garden.

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