What type of pine is this? (growing, trees, cactus, north)

[john gunn]

I took a photo of this pine a few days ago. Can anyone tell me what type of pine this is?

[Tennesseestorm]

Gee... I thought I knew all pines, but this is a new one to me.... definitely never saw one of those here in the southeast.

Where is that tree at?

[cdelena]

Looks like a Monkey-puzzle pine.

[DLK55]

Originally Posted by cdelena

Looks like a Monkey-puzzle pine.

I'm inclined to agree with you. John, if you could get closer, take a look at hte "needles". With a monkey puzzle tree they're triangular, layered around the branches, if I recall.

[si33]

Yes indeed.. the tree in question is a Monkey puzzle or Araucaria araucana..and is part of the same family as Norfolk island and Bunya bunya..All of which are native to various areas of South America and Australia..if memory serves me correct..and the specimen you've provided picts of is a nice healthy tree probabaly around 30-45 years old..as they are typically slow growing..

The one thing about these trees is that larger,older specimens can produce HUGE cones which can weigh up to 15 and rarely up to 19 pounds..not a tree to plant where a car might park near..

[bluepacific]

Originally Posted by si33

Yes indeed.. the tree in question is a Monkey puzzle or Araucaria araucana..and is part of the same family as Norfolk island and Bunya bunya..All of which are native to various areas of South America and Australia..if memory serves me correct..and the specimen you've provided picts of is a nice healthy tree probabaly around 30-45 years old..as they are typically slow growing..

The one thing about these trees is that larger,older specimens can produce HUGE cones which can weigh up to 15 and rarely up to 19 pounds..not a tree to plant where a car might park near..

Yep that was my immediate conclusion as well. From the distance they do appear to have a sort of pine silhouette. Well at least as we are familiar with them.

Here's some close up photos of the actual foliage and cone:

http://www.kew.org/newviews/images/monkey.jpg (broken link)

Here are also some photos of the Bunya bunya tree. Definitely has the largest cones of the lot and equally dangerous around a carport as would be North America's own Coulter pine. It should also be of interest that the nuts are edible as well. You should take note that all of these similiar looking trees are from the same region of the world. New Caledonia, New Zealand, Australia, etc.

http://www.southbank.qm.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/dandiiri/land/images/araucaria_bidwillii_cones.jpg (broken link)

[Tennesseestorm]

Monkey puzzle pine. I have never even heard of one. Its really a beautiful tree! Thanks for the photos!

[john gunn]

Thanks for the help. Does anyone know what the following is? It looks similar to the first set of photos but the leaves look almost cactus like - is it also a MP tree?

[jctx]

How interesting your trees are!! What region of the U.S. are you in? I've never seen anything like those, anywhere! :-)

[citydweller]

Really neat trees!