PlantFiles: Bunya-Bunya Tree, False Monkey Puzzle Tree
Araucaria bidwillii

In Modesto, California there is a Bunya Bunya in one of the city's oldest parks (Graceada) that was planted in 1916 to commemorate a meeting of "The Sons of The Golden West." It is 110' tall; to prevent injuries to park visitors, a large border of Pittosporum was arranged around it's base. There are other examples of this species around the city, which claims to be "The City of Trees."

The largest of the 3 Bunya-Bunya trees in our neighborhood is far taller than any other tree within view. It draws a lot of attention for its enormous size, its graceful, dark green, upsweeping branches, its intensely green and symmetrical new groth, and its extremely hard and sharp leaves on long twigs. Stunningly beautiful, the Bunya-Bunya tree deserves a place a honor--far from homes and people--where it can be appreciated from a distance!

The Bunya-Bunya tree, whose leaves are acuminate at the tip and narrow at the base, differs from the Monkey Puzzle Tree (Araucaria araucana), whose leaves are acuminate at the tip, BROAD at the base, and overlapping.

The 'Bunyabunya' was a popular colonial plant in australia, particularly effective for marking the location of a homestead or boundary because of its distinctive silhouette. It is a native of northern NSW / southern Queensland. Like the monkeypuzzle it was also used for lining avenues, with the obvious disastrous results... Every 4 to 7 years the tree produces massive cones - up to 8 kilos or more. These form at the very top, and can crash down with no warning. (I was nearly taken out by one a few years back!) This heavy cropping - smaller cones are produced in other years - heralded a time of feasting for local aboriginal tribes. The nuts - 40 or more per cone - are edible, raw, roasted or ground. Cones are produced when the tree is older, say from 20 years. When mature the tree has its unnusual 'mushroom' shape. Leaves are very sharp. Seeds grow easily; remove from husks and lay on soil - any which way, they're not fussy. Because of their lethal reputation are now rare in Australian gardens / parks.

This tree is dangerous, the needles can draw blood and the seed pods have been known to rip holes in cars after crashing down. Not recommended for any place where children or pets might be. The seeds are tasty though if you can get them out of the seed pod.

Since most of us in So Cal can't grow True Monkey Puzzle trees (too hot here), we settle for this one if we want a unique conifer with bizzare spiny 'leaves'. This tree is truly massive, though and gets up to near 100'. Though it is an impressive sight, it is also a bit dangerous as the cones can weigh over a pound and easily kill you after falling 100'. In So Cal this is a relatively slow growing tree for the first 3-5 years of its life, and then it does quite well.