Araucaria araucana

Monkey Puzzle Tree

Zones 7-10

 

I love this conifer. It always intrigues me whether it is a young plant, or a mature specimen. Like ginkgo, Araucaria are often called living fossils. They do look like something from the dinosaur age. Araucaria araucana, commonly known as the Monkey Puzzle tree, is a unique conifer from Chile and Argentina. Rumor is that a monkey will look at this unusual evergreen and will be puzzled on how to climb it. The foliage is hard and sharp, giving a prickly feeling to touch. The branches are are long and snake-like, becoming denser with age. The Monkey Puzzle tree is quite rare in cultivation as it does take 40 years for a tree to develop cones. Male and Female monkey puzzle trees that are this age must be present to develop seeds in the cones that are fertile. The overall shape is narrow and pyramidal.  While the plant is untraditional in it's snake-like form, monkey puzzles are often quite symmetrical. Monkey Puzzle trees are fairly slow reaching about 8 ft in height by 4 ft in width in 10 years. With a growth rate of about 10 inches a year, Monkey puzzle trees slowly make a larger specimen, becoming more unique each and every year. Make sure to give Monkey Puzzle Trees good drainage when planting.

The photos on this page without a MrMaple logo were taken by Neil "Ramsey" Fusillo and cannot be used without expressed written consent from the owner.

Limited Quantities Available !! As we have lots cultivars of conifers, we often do not have many of each cultivar. We recommend that you buy the conifers you want immediately as we often sell out of certain selections.