Scientific name
Common name
Family
Origin
Australia
Year planted
Beginnings of the garden, prior to 1930
Flowering
June
Description
It is a very tall tree: it can reach 45 metres, with a trunk of up to 1.5 metres in diameter and a crown of 12 metres. The branches grow horizontally from the trunk.
The leaves are evergreen: the juvenile leaves are lance-shaped and hard, and the adult ones are more rounded, pointed and dark green.
Large male and female cones are borne all over the tree. The female cones are larger: they are cones up to 30 centimetres long and weigh up to 10 kilograms. They can contain up to 100 seeds that are edible.
It flowers every three years, and the cone takes 17 months to mature. The cones are found at the top of the tree. When they break off, they collide with the branches, and so the seeds are scattered.
Marimurtra’s specimens
This is by far the tallest tree in the whole garden: it is almost 20 metres tall. You will find it in the araucaria flower bed.
We don’t know when it was planted, but from its characteristics we think it was early in the garden’s history.
Did you know that…?
In Australia, the Aboriginal people collect and cook the seeds in an important ceremony. The seeds can be eaten raw, roasted, boiled or made into dough and baked like bread.
Threat level (UICN)
Main uses
Raunkiaer Life Forms
