MONKEY PUZZLE-
ARAUCARIA ARAUCANA 30 seeds

DUe to bad crops this year and lack of availablity we have had to increase price in line with others

easy to grow -non dormant

 

The Monkey Puzzle is the hardiest species of conifer genus Araucaria.

Grows to 40m tall

2m diameter.

This tree is exactly as if was millions of years ago and because of this has been described as a living fossil.

It prefers temperate climates with abundant rainfall, tolerating temperatures down to about −20 °C. It is far and away the hardiest member of its genus, and can grow well in western Europe (north to the Faroe Islands and Smøla^[2]in western Norway), the west coast of North America (north to the Queen Charlotte Islands in Canada) and locally on the east coast as well, and in New Zealand and southeastern Australia. It is tolerant of coastal salt spray,

It does not have male and female cones on separate trees so it is important to buy fertilised seeds. Beware of cheap monkey puzzle seeds as they may not be fertile although on rare occasions a tree may produce both male and female seeds. The name for this is dioecious, male and female on separate trees.

 

It is a popular garden tree, planted for its unusual effect of the thick, 'reptilian' branches with a very symmetrical appearance.

The origin of the popular English name Monkey-puzzle derives from its early cultivation in Britain in about 1850, when the species was still very rare in gardens and not widely known. The proud owner of a young specimen at Pencarrow garden near Bodmin in Cornwall was showing it to a group of friends, and one made the remark "It would puzzle a monkey to climb that"; as the species had no existing popular name, first 'monkey-puzzler', then 'monkey-puzzle' stuck.^[4]

(As a practical exercise, a monkey trying to climb one would not be so much puzzled as injured by the spiky leaf points. In France it is known as "désespoir des singes" or "monkeys' wanhope". However, as monkeys are not found in the species' native range, the question does not arise. The species' Mapuche name Pehuén is now becoming more widely used as an alternative common name in English. Prior to 1850, it had been called "Joseph Bank's Pine" or "Chile Pine" in Britain, both somewhat confusing as it is not a pine. The spiky leaves of the monkey puzzle were never evolved to stop monkeys however, but rather to stop grazing dinosaurs eating it before it could grow out of their reach, such is the ancient age of this tree)

(INFO above taken from Wikapaedia)

Sign up for my email newsletters by adding my eBay Shop to your Favourites

!

 

 

Powered by eBay Turbo Lister