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| synonyms: Chile Pine, Monkey Puzzle |
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| tree/shrub type: Conifers |
| foliage: Evergreen |
| size: Tall forest trees (above 10m) |
| types of fruit: Trees and shrubs with cones |
| flowering period: Spring |
| leaf colour: Leaves green |
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Araucaria araucana (Mol.) K. Koch, family Araucariaceae. Monkey Puzzle or Chile Pine
Evergreen conifer, native to Chile and Argentina, grown as an ornamental in Europe and N. America. Height to 30m (100ft). Male and female flowers are produced on separate trees, and only on topmost branches. Males are about 10cm (4in) long and shed pollen in July; females are solitary, erect and green. They develop into cones about 10-17cm (4-7in) long, ripening from green to brown in their second autumn. The seeds used to be eaten as dessert nuts in South America, and Archibald Menzies first brought the Monkey Puzzle into cultivation by slipping some nuts from a Chilean banquet into his pocket. Foliage is composed of large thick dark green prickly leaf-like scales. Bark is grey and wrinkled, and marked with rings formed by old branch scars. Zone 8. |
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