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TREE NUMBER 3.
NEW CALEDONIA PINE
(Araucaria columnaris)
A distinctive, narrowly conical tree growing up to 60 metres in its native habitat. The relatively short branches are in whorls around the slender, slightly leaning trunk. Studies have found that in both hemispheres the trees lean on average eight degrees towards the equator.
This pine is endemic to New Caledonia and is a familiar sight in Melanesia. The Kanak people planted them at sacred sites marking taboos and ancient dwelling places and around the houses of chiefs. It was first classified by Johann Forster, a botanist on Captain Cook’s second voyage around the world (1772-75).
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