Revered by the Maori people of New Zealand these ancient trees date back to dinosaurs and even now live for up to 2000 years. Not your average garden tree but a tree to know and protect from further exploitation.

Key Features of the Kauri

• Latin name – Agathis australis other common name Lord of the Forest or Dammar
• Height – 165 feet
• Type of tree – Evergreen conifer
• Leaves – leathery and oblong
• Flowers – cylindrical or spherical grey
• Fruit – cones
• Bark – smooth and grey shedding thick flakes
• Family – Araucariaceae

Origins and Distribution of the Kauri

• Kauri Agathis australis is native to New Zealand and only found there.
• Once widely forested the kauri forest now only covers 18,000 acres.

Uses and Attributes of the Kauri

• Historically felled by settlers for timber.
• Other species of kauri give various resins and produce fine grained wood.

Gardeners Tips for the Kauri

• The New Zealand trees are up to 2000 years old and deserve maximum protection. The trees predecessors were probably around in the Jurassic period.
• It is an impressive tree reaching 160 feet high, topped by a broad canopy.
• Young trees grow in conical form and shed lower branches as it matures.
• The trunk or bole is distinctive and wide up to 18 feet in diameter

Other types of Kauri and key species

• The genus Agathis is a relatively small genus of 21 species of evergreen tree.
• These trees produce gum or resin and are all native to the southern hemisphere.
• Ancient kauri or swamp kauri has been found buried in salt marshes and radiocarbon dated to 50,000 years ago.

Kauri comments from elsewhere

• ‘Maori used kauri timber for boat building, carving and building houses. The gum was used as a fire starter and for chewing (after it had been soaked in water and mixed with the milk of the puha plant).The arrival of European settlers in the 17-1800’s saw the decimation of these magnificent forests.’ Dept of conservation.
• Kauri wood is sometimes preserved in waterlogged soils and excavated wood from trees long buried can be bought from ancientwood.com.

Credits
Kauri Trees by Make Some Noise CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ‘This is the oldest tree known here on the island. It’s estimated to be 2000 years old and this entire forest is really magical. It’s tragic that colonists came and tore these trees down only to make boats out of the trees, but at least now they are protected and hopefully more are being planted.’
Kauri tree at sunset by jjprojects CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Kauri tree from up close by Piotr Zurek CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Agathis australis #1 by J.G. in S.F.CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ‘…. Endemic to the North Island of New Zealand Kauri, Kauri Pine
Shown: Foliage and female (seed) cones….’
Kauri Tree by jen-zed CC BY-NC 2.0