Commemorating James Cunningham, a surgeon with the East India Company who collected many botanical specimens from China in the years 1698-1702

Evergreen trees with rounded crowns. Branches whorled when young, pendulous at the tips. Leaves spirally arranged but spreading in two ranks on the side shoots, leathery and strongly pointed, the base extending down the stem. Male and female cones on the same tree. Male cones in clusters at the tips of branchlets. Female cones roundish, on side branchlets; scales each with 2-3 narrowly winged seeds.

3 species from C & S China, Taiwan.

Seed and cuttings (especially adventitious shoots which are slow-growing at first).

Commercial timber.

Leaves superficially similar to Araucaria bidwillii but narrower, with two white bands below and not narrowed at the base, the margins with fine teeth. Dead leaves often remain on the tree for a long period.

Source: Spencer, R. (1995). Taxodiaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.