''Araucaria biramulata'', the biramule araucaria, or piggyback araucaria, is a species of

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

in the family Araucariaceae. It is found only in

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

on the main island of

Grande Terre Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places *Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany *Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas *Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) *Arroio ...

. ''Araucaria biramulata'' is a medium-large tree reaching 30 meters in height. As with several other endemic

New Caledonian araucaria The main diversity among genus ''Araucaria'' is hosted in New Caledonia, where 14 species, all endemic, are described out of a total of 20 extant species.Mill RR., Ruhsam M., Thomas PI., Gardner MF. and Hollingsworth PM. 2017. ''Araucaria goroensis ...

species, it is threatened by habitat loss with a fragmented wild population of less than 10,000 mature trees, and ongoing decline in remaining populations, with the main threats being forest fires and mining activities. Piggyback araucaria gets its common name from the unusual growth habit of mature trees, where they often develop a second growth tip halfway up the trunk, giving the appearance of a smaller tree "piggybacking" on the side of a larger one.James E Eckenwalder. Conifers of the World, The Complete Reference. p 156. Timber Press 2009.

References

biramulata Endemic flora of New Caledonia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{conifer-stub