Scientific name: Agathis moorei (Lindley) M T. Masters 1892

Synonyms: Agathis corbassonii de Laub., Dammara lanceolata Vieill., Dammara moorei Lindl., Salisburyodendron corbassonii (de Laub.) A.V.Bobrov & Melikyan, Salisburyodendron moorei (Lindl.) A.V.Bobrov & Melikyan

Common names: Moore's kauri, White kauri, Kaori blanc, Kaori du nord (French), Dicou (Kanak)

Description

Tree to 25(-30) m tall, with cylindrical, unbuttressed trunk to 2(-3) m in diameter and unbranched for up to about 18 m in old trees. Bark smooth and light gray at first, weathering darker grayish brown, flaking in thin scales, and becoming progressively rougher and both pockmarked and persistently scaly with age. Crown dense, conical at first, passing through cylindrical to broadly dome-shaped with age, with relatively slender horizontal branches turned up at the ends and bearing branchlets along their length. Branchlets yellowish green from the beginning, densely clothed with foliage. Leaves shiny bright green above, paler and duller but not waxy beneath, 5-7 cm long (to 20 cm in juveniles), 0.8-1.5 cm wide (to 3.5 cm in juveniles), widest near the middle (before the middle in juveniles), tapering smoothly to the roundly triangular tip (sharply triangular in juveniles) and somewhat to dramatically more abruptly to the wedge-shaped to roundly wedge-shaped base on a very short petiole 1-3 mm long. Pollen cones 2.5-3(-4) cm long, 8-10 mm thick, with seven or eight pairs of larger, tightly clasping sterile scales (of which the lowest pair may be somewhat leaflike) on a stalk 8-12(-25) mm long. Each pollen scale with about 7-10 pollen sacs and a rounded external face. Seed cones with some remnants of a waxy film at maturity, almost spherical to a little longer than wide, 10-15 cm long and 9-12 cm thick. Seed scales slightly turned up at the rim but without a large, tonguelike projection. Seed body skinnier than in other species, 20-22 mm long and 7-8 mm wide, the larger wing about 30 mm by 20 mm, the smaller one narrowly triangular, projecting about 4-5 mm. The species name honors Charles Moore (1820-1905), Scottish-born director of the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, who collected the type material of this species as well as that of Melanesian kauri (Agathis macrophylla) and who also named dwarf kauri (Agathis ovata) and some other species now considered synonyms of earlier names.

Widely but discontinuously distributed through the northern two-thirds of New Caledonia, from the Diahot River valley near Ouégoa in the north southward to the Thio River valley near Thio. Scattered or forming small groves in, or as an emergent above, the canopy of lowland rain forests on soils derived from sedimentary rocks; (30-)200-700(-1,000) m.

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Vulnerable

The current extent of occurrence is estimated to be 7,394 km2. Herbarium records from sites that no longer exist indicate that it was formerly more widespread. Nine locations have been identified and within each of these there has been a decline in the area of occupancy and the quality of habitat. The total population for this species is estimated to be less than 10,000 mature individuals. Continued logging throughout its range is estimated to lead to at least a 10% reduction of the population within the next three generations, probably mostly within the next ten years. These data indicate an assessment of Vulnerable under Criteria B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) and C1.

The total population for this species is estimated to be less than 10,000 mature individuals. Continued logging throughout its range is estimated to lead to at least a 10% reduction of the population within the next three generations, probably within the next ten years. Substantial declines have occurred in recent years due to overexploitation of the timber. Logging is continuing. An increase in fires and conversion of forest to other uses has led to increased habitat fragmentation and a lack of regeneration. Sought out for its valuable timber.

A large emergent tree mainly restricted to areas of lowland rainforest that are mostly on non-ultramafic substrates.

Very few subpopulations are within protected areas.

References

Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland