There are two Monkey Puzzles in the gardens. Walk on the lawn to get a really good view of this one and look at the top of the tree where you can often see the cones. Male cones are in clusters, but female cones, which produce the seeds are large and single. Is this a male or female tree?
Monkey puzzles have been around for 200 million years, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. They come from South America. In 1795 Archibald Menzies, a ship’s surgeon and botanist, was given some seeds to eat as a delicacy at a banquet in Santiago, Chile, but pocketed a few and grew them on his voyage home, and so it arrived in this country. He presented two of his seedlings to Kew. Fossilised monkey puzzle wood is better known as jet, found commonly in relatives of the modern araucaria’s family, used for making black jewellery.
Country of origin
Andes Mountains, South America
Credits
The 'Trees at Jephson's project' has been delivered by Warwick District Council. With the kind sponsorship of Leamington Town Council and the Leamington Society.