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Agathis australis (D. Don) Lindley
Family: Araucariaceae
Softwood
Country of Origin: New Zealand
The tree:
Kauri is the largest and most renowned of all New Zealands timber trees. It is to New Zealand what jarrah is to Western Australia or Californian redwood is to California a tree and a timber of legendary fame and importance.
The tree grows naturally north of a line from Kawhia to Tauranga in the North Island. Mature trees remaining today average 30 m high, with a columnar trunk up to 3 m in diameter. Tane Mahuta, the famous tree in Waipoua Forest is 51.2 m high and 4.4 m in diameter 5 m from the ground. It is of interest to note here that tree diameters are usually measured at breast height of 1.4 m from the ground. In the case of Tane Mahuta and other large kauris, however, the base of the tree is surrounded by a mound of shed bark, litter, and fibrous roots which makes normal measurement impossible.
The wood:
The dry heartwood of kauri is a light biscuit to rich reddish brown; the sapwood is very light brown. Kauri has a characteristic speckle in the wood, as if sprinkled with pepper. This is a useful feature for identification purposes since few woods have it; macrocarpa is another. Kauri is, in fact one of the worlds great timbers. But it is not only as sawn timber that it is so remarkable. The logs themselves, before sawing, have been among the most magnificent produced from any forest. In most parts of the world logs of this size and age would have a hollow or pipe at the centre. No so kauri it is nearly always solid to the core.
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