monkey puzzle tree

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

monkey puzzle tree

plant

Also known as: Araucaria araucana, Chile pine

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Also called:: Chile pine

Related Topics:: Chile; Araucaria; evergreen

See all related content

monkey puzzle tree, (Araucaria araucana), an evergreen ornamental and timber conifer of the family Araucariaceae, native to the Andes Mountains of South America. Although the tree was declared a natural monument in Chile in 1976 to afford it protection from logging, the species is listed as an endangered species by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species because of illegal felling activity and habitat fragmentation in its native habitat.

The monkey puzzle tree may grow to a height of 45–50 metres (150–164 feet) with a diameter of 2.5 metres (8 feet) and may live for more than 700 years. Its spiral arrangement of rigid needle-pointed leaves along stiff branches inspired its common name, evoked by a comment about the challenge this prickly network might pose to climbing monkeys. The plants are usually dioecious, meaning male and female cones are most commonly borne on separate individuals. The female cones are somewhat spherical in shape and can produce about 200 edible seeds.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.

conifer

Images

Plate 4: Fleshy red appendages of fruits of the yew (Taxus), which attract birds.

For Students

conifer summary

conifer

plant

Also known as: Coniferophyta

Written by James Emory Eckenwalder

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Related Topics:: Cordaitales; Cordaitopsida; Cheirolepidiaceae; Araucariaceae; Sciadopityaceae

See all related content

conifer, any member of the division Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, order Pinales, made up of living and fossil gymnospermous plants that usually have needle-shaped evergreen leaves and seeds attached to the scales of a woody bracted cone. Among living gymnosperm divisions, the conifers show little similarity to the Cycadophyta and Gnetophyta but share several vegetative and reproductive traits with the Ginkgophyta. Conifers are most abundant in cool temperate and boreal regions, where they are important timber trees and ornamentals, but they are most diverse in warmer areas, including tropical mountains.

General features

Diversity of size and structure

The conifers are the most varied gymnosperms. The world’s oldest trees are the 5,000-year-old bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) of desert mountains in California and Nevada. The largest trees are the giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) of the Sierra Nevada of California, reaching heights of more than 95 metres (312 feet) and weights of at least 2 million kilograms (4.4 million pounds; compared with 190,000 kilograms for the largest recorded blue whale). Wherever conifers grow, especially in temperate climates, one of these species is usually the tallest tree. In fact, the very tallest trees are the coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) of coastal California, some of which are more than 110 metres (361 feet) tall.

The world’s smallest trees probably are also conifers: the natural bonsai cypresses (Cupressus goveniana) and lodgepole pines (Pinus contorta) of the pygmy forests (adjacent to the towering redwood forests) of the northern California coasts. On the sterile hardpan soils of those astounding forests, the trees may reach full maturity at under 0.2 metre (0.7 foot) in height, while individuals of the same species on richer, deeper soils can grow to more than 30 metres (98 feet). Other conifers, such as the pygmy pine (Lepidothamnus laxifolius) of New Zealand, the smallest conifer, are always shrubby and may mature as shorter plants (less than 8 centimetres [3.15 inches] in height) than the pygmy cypress, but with greater spread.