''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 sin ...

in the family

Araucariaceae Araucariaceae is a Family (biology), family of conifers with three living Genus, genera, ''Araucaria'', ''Agathis'', and ''Wollemia''. While the family's native distribution is now largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, except for a few spe ...

. It is found only in

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

on the main island of Grande Terre. ''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 Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

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