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July 18, 2005
Abigail makes the ID!
I am sad to say that I made a mistaken (read: wrong) identification.
I originally identified this tree as araucaria araucana based on its general appearance, as well as its shape. Some months later, my wife said to me slyly, "You know, I think that large tree on MLK Drive might be a bunya-bunya, not a monkey puzzle." She walks by the tree several times a week while out exercising, so she has the advantage of me. Seems she'd been storing up this bombshell for a while. After I checked it out and acknowledged my mistake, she had the guts to ask if I would be upfront about this issue on TreeDazzled!
Apparently this tree richly deserves its other name: False Monkey Puzzle.
July 18, 2005 in Conifers | Permalink
Comments
It sounds like Abigail should have her own tree blog!!! Anyway, this whole incident brings to mind the question of how the monkey puzzle tree got its name in the first place...
Posted by: akrotiri6 | Jul 20, 2005 7:50:24 PM
seein trees is easy, it's growin them that's hard
jerry
Posted by: jerry_t | Jul 26, 2005 11:51:26 AM
The story I heard was that monkeys can't climb monkey puzzle trees--and that's where the name comes from.
Does anybody know differently?
P
Posted by: paulie | Jul 26, 2005 12:54:06 PM
Hello,
Yes, it was in the early 1800's when an Englishman was once overheard saying that a monkey would have a puzzle climbing that tree, or some such. They are very unique and original looking trees. A little dangerous to touch as well, since they are so spiky. The individual " leaves" can live 10 to 15 years or so, grow to a hieght of 125-150 feet, with a trunk diameter of more than 4 feet. The longest known living tree at this time is about 800 years old. They are known to live to well over 1000 years. Imagine! They have female ( with cones that can grow to the size of man's head) and the male cones are about 8-10 inches long in a cylinder shape, versus round I believe. I have done a bit of reading on them since they have peaked my interest! They are very slow growing and CAN be grown in the house if your climate is disagreeable for their livlihood.They can take about 40 years to grow cones and then will have about 120 seeds that are edible from the cones. They are on the endangered list in Chile but are often poached, for seeds, and their wood!
Gail
Posted by: Gail | Nov 4, 2005 3:36:26 PM
