Agathis atropurpurea.
Known by many names including Queensland Kauri Pine, Blue or Black kauri.
A rare species found in a small area in Northern Queensland.
Tall, straight trees up to 50 m high.
The trunk is many hued – brown with areas in mixtures of black, purple, blue and red.
The bark is smooth and peels off in large pieces.
The lower half of the trunk is bare and the upper half has the side branches in whorls.
Foliage is on the ends of the branches.
Leaves, on a petiole only a few mms long, are up to 7 cm long and 2 cm wide.
Cylindrical male cones, 10 to 20 mm long, are on a stalk.
The undivided, smooth-edged microsporophylls (scales) are on 2 to 3 mm stalks.
There are up to 500 overlapping scales each with 2 to 5 microsporangia.
Female cones are globular, up to about 5.5 cm and have up to 150 scales.
Winged brown seeds are up to 12 mm long.
J.F.
