Monkey Puzzle

Sir Archibald Menzies is credited with the introduction of the first trees to Kew Gardens in 1796 from where they were later introduced to estates in Ireland. An example is the beautifully conserved gardens at Woodstock Demense near Inistioge Co Kilkenny.

This tree is named after the Indigenous "Mapuche" people who lived in the Araucanian region in Chile. It is an evergreen dioecious conifer that dates back to the Jurassic period some 200 million years ago.

Dick Warner once described it as a "disturbingly extra-terrestrial"

Pablo Neruda wrote the poem "Ode to the Araucaria Araucania."

Throughout history, many stories praising the tree that gave food and protection against the conquistadors.