| | CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification and information retrieval |
Nomenclature. Family: ARAUCARIACEAE. Other trade relevant species: Agathis australis, A. borneensis, A. dammara, A. robusta. Synonym(s): Agathis dammara (syn.: A. alba, A. celebica, A. philippinensis). Further trade and local names: Agathis australis: New Zealand Kauri (NZ); A. dammara: almaciga, baltic, saleng (PH); damar malolo, damar nunu, kalline, kessi, oeneela, sanum, tesanum (ID,MY); Celebes kauri, Indonesian kauri, mountain agathis, Amboina pitch tree Amboina pine, Borneo Kauri (GB); A. robusta: Kauri pine, Queensland Kauri (AU). Code according to DIN EN 13556: AGAS (Agathis australis); AGDM (Agathis dammara).
CITES(EU) status of protection. Not protected.
Similar timbers. Easily mistaken for Araucaria araucana (CITES I).
Geographic distribution. Indomalesia, Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand.
Growth rings, colour, grain, etc. Growth ring boundaries distinct (temperate climate), or indistinct or absent (tropical climate); transition from earlywood to latewood gradual. Heartwood basically brown. Sapwood similar to heartwood colour, or distinct from heartwood colour (more rarely). With a shiny surface. Wood light weight and soft to of medium weight (0.40–0.60 g/cm3). Interlocked grain absent.
Hardwood vs softwood. Vessels (pores) absent (= softwood).
Rays. Rays narrow. Large rays commonly less than 1 mm high.
Resin canals. Normal resin canals absent.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract not fluorescent; colour shade of water extract colourless to brown. Ethanol extract not fluorescent; colour shade of ethanol extract colourless to brown. Splinter burns to full ash; colour of ash white to grey, or yellow-brown.
Additional information. • Transverse section + wood surface. Agathis australis (Kauri). Transverse section ca. 10x. Wood surface, natural size.
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., Gembruch, K., and Koch, G. 2014 onwards. CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th April 2023. www.delta-intkey.com’.
