monkey puzzle

[Dr. Goodword]

The problem with trees is that there is little opportunity to use them other than in a conversation about the tree--they can't be used metaphorically, hence little I can do in Notes or In play.

[tcward]

Sounds like you need to branch out and monkey around a little with it then! Don't leaf it all to us!

-Tim

[uncronopio]

There was a little Araucaria araucana just planted when I started studying forestry. Five years later the tree was around 10cm (4in) taller. They are beautiful trees, which take a while to grow. Sometimes it is very dangerous to walk under one of them, because of the size of the female cone (10-18 cm long by 8-15 cm wide).

This is a picture of a young tree, with branches starting from very close to the ground, while these are some adults, which well explain the 'monkey puzzle' name. Conifers.org contains some additional botanical information.

Araucarias are dioecious (from greek for two houses, this is a good word!) trees, meaning that they have separate female and male flowers in different trees. So, there are he and she araucarias.

[Stargzer]

. . .
Araucarias are dioecious (from greek for two houses, this is a good word!) trees, meaning that they have separate female and male flowers in different trees. So, there are he and she araucarias.

Fr. Mike made sure it didn't take too long for a class of male high school freshman biology students to remember the difference between monoecious and dioecious . . .