The name was coined in the mid-1800s when a barrister said that climbing its spiny branches would puzzle even a monkey
Monkey puzzle. Charles Austin.
Nature · Trees
Monkey puzzle
Neophyte (introduced 1795) · evergreen conifer to 30 m · Victorian gardens, parks and front lawns
Araucaria araucana — Araucariaceae
A living fossil from the Andes of Chile and Argentina, first brought to Britain in 1795 and a Victorian and Edwardian status symbol in suburban front gardens. It belongs to a lineage that goes back about 200 million years. The name was coined in the mid-1800s when a barrister remarked that climbing it would puzzle even a monkey.
How to know it
How to spot them
- ▸Stout, almost cylindrical trunk with smooth, purplish-brown, wrinkled bark like elephant skin
- ▸Rope-like branches in whorls, sweeping up at the tips
- ▸Leaves leathery, glossy, triangular and razor-sharp, overlapping in a spiral over the shoots and staying for years
- ▸Large, spiny, globe-shaped seed cones, which take two to three years to ripen
- ▸Male and female cones on separate trees (dioecious)
- ▸Look-alike: none among British conifers — the armoured spiral foliage is unmistakable.
How to know it
A lineage that has existed for some 200 million years, when its spiny leaves may have deterred dinosaurs
Monkey puzzle.
First brought to Britain in 1795, it became a Victorian and Edwardian favourite for suburban front gardens
Monkey puzzle.
Old Fenland belief held that planting it at the edge of a graveyard kept the Devil out of burials
Monkey puzzle.
A conifer with male and female cones on separate trees, its large edible seeds dispersed by jays and squirrels
Monkey puzzle.
Over-harvesting threatens this tree in its native Chile, where it is the national tree
Monkey puzzle.
Stiff, sharp, triangular leaves clothe its rope-like branches in overlapping spirals
Monkey puzzle.
Quick-fire facts
- •Araucaria araucana — named for the Arauco region of Chile; also called the Chilean pine; family Araucariaceae, not a true pine
- •First brought to Britain in 1795, according to the Woodland Trust; often credited to Archibald Menzies
- •Popular name coined in the mid-1800s by the barrister Charles Austin
- •Species dates back around 200 million years (Woodland Trust)
- •Dioecious; the seeds are edible and eaten as piñones in Chile
- •Old superstition: speaking while passing one brings bad luck; Fenland folk believed planting one by a graveyard kept the Devil away
- •Threatened in its native range through over-harvesting, and listed as Endangered by the IUCN
- •In Britain it is planted only, and is not invasive; seeds dispersed by jays and grey squirrels
Drill it — 7 cards
1 / 7new card
Sources
- Woodland Trust — Monkey puzzle (Araucaria araucana)