Monkey Puzzle Tree

The monkey puzzle tree, Araucaria araucana, is a conifer of the family Araucariaceae, also called pewen or Chile pine, native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina, where it grows mainly between about 1,000 and 1,700 meters elevation in the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range. It reaches 30 to 40 meters in height with a trunk 1 to 1.5 meters across, and is covered in thick, triangular, scale-like leaves 3 to 4 centimeters long that can remain on the tree for up to 24 years; its large, rounded cones each hold roughly 200 seeds. It is the national tree of Chile and of Argentina's Neuquen Province, and though logging was banned in 1990, the species remains threatened by fire, grazing and invasive species, and is listed as Endangered by the IUCN and protected under CITES Appendix I.