Norfolk Island Pine –

Araucaria heterophylla
Norfolk-Island-Pines.jpg
Norfolk Island pines, Norfolk Island
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Araucariaceae
Genus: Araucaria
Section: A. sect. Eutacta
Species:
A. heterophylla
Binomial name
Araucaria heterophylla
(Salisb.) Franco
Synonyms
  • Araucaria excelsa var. glauca Carrière
  • Eutacta excelsa var. aurea-variegata Carrière
  • Eutacta excelsa var. glauca (Carrière) Carrière
  • Eutacta excelsa var. monstrosa Carrière
  • Eutacta excelsa var. variegata-alba Carrière
  • Eutassa heterophylla Salisb.

Araucaria heterophylla (synonym A. excelsa) is a vascular plant in the ancient and now disjointly distributed conifer family Araucariaceae. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine (or Norfolk pine) implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, a small island in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, about 1440 km east of Sydney, Australia. The genus Araucaria occurs across the South Pacific, especially concentrated in New Caledonia (about 700 km due north of Norfolk Island) where 13 closely related and similar-appearing species are found. It is sometimes called a star pine, Polynesian pine, triangle tree or living Christmas tree, due to its symmetrical shape as a sapling, although it is not a true pine.

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