''Araucaria montana'', the mountain 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 ...

. ''Araucaria montana'' is the most widely distributed of New Caledonia's native ''Araucaria'' species, and is found throughout the main island of Grande Terre, as well as a small population on Île d'Art. However it is still considered vulnerable due to fragmentation of populations and degradation of habitat, due mainly to

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

activities. Height of mature trees can vary from 10 to 40 meters. A population genetic study suggested that the less common '' A. laubenfelsii'' may not be distinct from ''A. montana''. The Latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''montana'' refers to mountains or coming from mountains.Archibald William Smith Gardenology

References

montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

Endemic flora of New Caledonia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Jean Antoine Arthur Gris Taxa named by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart {{conifer-stub