The New Zealand kauri is a conifer in the family Araucariaceae and the largest tree species by volume in New Zealand, though not the tallest, found mainly north of 38 degrees south latitude on the North Island, with mature specimens occasionally as far south as Christchurch and Dunedin. It reaches 40 to 50 meters with smooth bark and small, narrow leaves 3 to 7 centimeters long, developing a narrow crown when young and a broad, dominant crown at maturity. New Zealand classifies it as Nationally Vulnerable: more than 90 percent of pre-1000 AD kauri forest had been destroyed by logging by 1900, and only about 4 percent of uncut forest remains, largely in protected areas such as Waipoua Forest.
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