They may be the most distinctive and unforgettable trees in Southern California gardens and landscapes. Unlike palm trees, however, which also have an exotic look, there are not so many of them as to become boring. The first time you see one, your jaw drops in amazement. You have to touch the foliage since this is a tree that does not look real.
I am talking about Norfolk Island pines (Araucaria heterophylla). They are indigenous to an eponymous plot of land in the South Pacific that is only five miles long by three miles wide and is situated 900 miles east of Australia. The population of these trees has dwindled considerably and, like 16 of the 20 Araucaria species, Norfolk Island pines are biological relics, threatened if not actually endangered, meaning that where forests of them once grew, only scattered groves remain.
Ironically, although 18 of these species are native to the South Pacific, the genus name Araucaria was given on account of the single species, Araucaria araucana, that is native to Chile and is the national tree of that country. It grows in an area inhabited by a people whom the Spanish called araucanos, a portmanteau of two words taken from the languages of local tribes. Its common name of monkey-puzzle tree is a misnomer since monkeys are not found where it grows, but the name was given when someone who saw it growing on an English estate said that its sharply pointed leaves would create a puzzle for monkeys wishing to climb it.
Although its leaves are standoffish, monkey puzzle seeds, resembling jumbo pine nuts, are an inviting snack and have long been a staple in the diet of the native Mapuche people. They felt a strong spiritual connection to the trees, whose majestic presence, reaching 150 feet tall with a lifespan of 1,000 years or more, imparted a sense of undying ancestral influence, reinforced by the practice of planting monkey puzzle trees in cemeteries. The Mapuche were sophisticated land managers and foresters who significantly increased their precious trees’ territorial expanse over thousands of years. At harvest time, large encampments with thousands of participants took place where ownership of forest estates was determined.
Across the ocean in Australia, seeds of the related bunya-bunya tree (Araucaria bidwillii) were similarly essential to the diet and the culture of the Aboriginal people who lived in their midst. Up until the last century, major festivals at the time of bunya-bunya harvest were held in the Bunya Mountains in southeast Queensland. These festivals were unparalleled in attracting thousands of people who traveled great distances to take part in them. The festivals served as occasions for conducting business, settling disputes between tribes, and arranging marriages. Bunya-bunya trees were so valuable that they were the most important property assets of the Aboriginal people, and groups of trees that were owned by families were passed down from one generation to the next. The trees had a holy status to the members of some tribes who forbade cutting them down or even camping in their vicinity.
The fact that these two related trees are found on opposite ends of the globe is not an anomaly. Hundreds of millions of years ago, South America and Australia were joined in one gigantic land mass known as Gondwana. When Gondwana split in two, these two species, on their respective continents, were isolated by thousands of miles of ocean and situated in contrasting climates, yet both survived. The Chilean Mapuche and Australian Aboriginals had absolutely no contact when developing their traditions. Yet their common cultural behaviors are a tribute to the traits all Araucaria species share. Because these trees drop massive yields of nutritious seeds, both cultures saw them as their life-sustaining food source. Furthermore, because the heaviest harvests occurred every few years, both cultures scheduled festive occasions around them. The fact that the trees could live for a millennium gave them a spiritual significance for both peoples, as well.
Bunya-bunya trees produce soccer-ball-sized or larger female cones, weighing up to 40 pounds, while monkey puzzle cones are the size of a grapefruit. Be careful not to walk near these trees unless you are wearing a hard hat. The one-and-a-half-inch seeds inside the cones contain edible kernels that taste like chestnuts and become accessible when the hard shell coverings with which they are boiled or roasted split open. Note: Norfolk Island pines, the most widely planted of the Araucaria genus in Southern California gardens, produce virtually inedible seeds.
Two notable bunya-bunya trees can be viewed in the San Fernando Valley. One is growing in the Pierce College Arboretum in Woodland Hills, and the other is found at Orcutt Ranch in West Hills. A Norfolk Island pine is growing at West Valley Occupational Center in Woodland Hills.
If you decide to grow a bunya-bunya or monkey-puzzle tree, seeds will not be produced unless you have at least two of them. The reason is that Araucarias are dioecious; there are both male and female trees, and even if you have a female — the seed-producing sex — you will only get seeds if there is a male in the vicinity that can pollinate the female. Although they do not fit the precise definition of pine trees, Araucaria species, in the manner of pine trees and, for that matter, most nut trees (walnut, pistachio, hazelnut, pecan, hickory, and chestnut) are wind-pollinated.
Although those who live in Araucaria native lands are adept at climbing these trees to harvest the female cones, we can only wait until August-November when the cones burst apart on the tree, and their seeds fall to the ground, where they are readily spotted due to their size — two inches long by one inch wide. Bunya-bunya seeds are thicker than monkey puzzle seeds. Incidentally, there are reports of seed production among Araucarias growing on the coast from Santa Barbara down to San Diego.
Araucarias are considered among the most ancient trees. It has been suggested that certain herbivorous dinosaurs, some of whose heads extended 70 feet above the ground, evolved along with these trees, which were a major source of sustenance for them.
You don’t regularly see Norfolk Island pines in the nursery, although they are found there and in various other stores in December when sold as small living Christmas trees. As for their care indoors, which pertains to bunya-bunyas as well, attention to humidity is important, especially during winter when air is driest, and an adjacent humidifier is recommended. Plenty of light, but not an overdose of it, is also important. This means that your Norfolk Island pines can receive direct light for several hours a day or bright, ambient (indirect) light for several hours more. Care for monkey-puzzle trees is different since they are native to a temperate climate with seasonal change as opposed to the tropical climate of the other species. This means monkey puzzles need as much direct light as they can possibly get but little to no water during winter, when they are dormant.
Araucaria seeds are widely available through Internet vendors, but live plants are hard to find. If anyone has a source for these distinctive trees, please advise.
Send your personal plant or garden story to Joshua@perfectplants.com. Your questions and comments as well as gardening successes and conundrums are always welcome.
California native of the week: Elk clover (Aralia californica) is not a true clover, but a relative of common ivy, the shade-loving ground cover, and the flowers and purple berries of these two plants are quite similar. Both plants are also partial to moist environments sheltered from hot sun.The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows up to nine feet tall in a single season with bipinnate leaves that reach three feet in size. In winter, the plant dies back to the ground only to emerge with renewed vigor the following spring. Its common name refers to the elk that graze on it.