Monkey Puzzle

About this Monkey Puzzle

Native to southern Chile and southern Argentina, the monkey puzzle is listed as a Natural Monument in Chile. This gives it legal protection on account of its vulnerability, due to habitat loss as a result of burning, grazing and logging.

Introduced to the UK in 1795 by Archibald Menzies, the scientific name is derived from the Araucanos, a group of indigenous Chilean people who live in the region where the monkey puzzle is native. The common name monkey puzzle was first used during its cultivation in Cornwall, when the owner of the plant commented that the branching was "enough to puzzle a monkey".

It grows predominantly on the slopes of volcanoes in the Andes Mountains, between 900 and 1700m. Male and female cones occur on separate trees, the former are brown and cucumber-shaped, and hang from the lower branches when mature. The female, globe-shaped cones take two years to mature, and are borne on the top of the tree.

This particular tree in our Edinburgh Garden is approximately 90 years old. It is a female, and produces cones once a year. These cones begin to grow in April and will continue to develop for about 18 months.

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