Araua

/əˈraʊə/ noun

Definition

A large South American tree of the pine family, prized for its valuable wood and distinctive umbrella-like crown.

Etymology

From Tupi or other Amazonian indigenous languages, adopted into Portuguese as 'araucária' and then into English. The name references indigenous knowledge of this culturally and economically important tree species.

Kelly Says

Araucarias are 'living fossils' that have remained virtually unchanged for 200 million years—they survived the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs and still grow in small pockets of South America, making them living windows to the Mesozoic era.

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