4 ms·

Anyone know where I can pick up some "monkey puzzle tree nuts" in the United States?

bowmessage 5y ago
Not trying to be facetious. but maybe look out for monkey puzzle trees in your area? If you're in the PNW, there a few around: https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/usa-araucariaaraucana/ https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/usa-araucariaaraucana/
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  Apparently there are quite a few in the Portland area. Someone has been mapping them. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=142zMsWAyuf9uYKGu7tRRDXXuPmI&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&ll=45.574593814717744%2C-123.17622200000001&z=10 https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=142zMsWAyuf9uYKGu7t...
  - mixologic 5y ago
    I used to ride my bike around every late summer gathering them from people's lawns. The trees have sexes, so one has to find the female trees. There are quite a few in Portland, and all relatively the same age because they were given away at the lewis and Clark exposition of 1905 by a representative from Chile. https://slabtowntours.com/2016/04/19/fun-fact-26-the-seedlings-of-portlands-heritage-monkey-puzzle-trees-citywide-can-trace-their-origins-to-what-slabtown-event/ https://slabtowntours.com/2016/04/19/fun-fact-26-the-seedlin...
johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
They're found virtually everywhere in Florida.
tjr225 5y ago
There are some massive examples in Seattle. They are hard to miss and very peculiar. I believe they are an import from the west coast of South America: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana
culi 5y ago
Might be hard to find considering they're endangered
malekascha 5y ago
The experimental farm network has them for sale - apparently they'll be available March-April. https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/monkey-puzzle-tree?_pos=11&_sid=0f1ed8899&_ss=r https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/monkey-pu...
- ianai 5y ago
  Those trees are awesome! Look almost alien but also something I could imagine the dinosaurs eating.
robbedpeter 5y ago
3-4 decades to maturity, before you can harvest seeds, and it looks like you need male and female plants to cause seeding - I wonder if that can be gamed by grafting from mature trees, or artificial hormone sprays? 3-5 cm pine nuts sound awesome, though. 50m tall trees with giant cones and tasty nuts that can live a thousand years - a grove of these on a farm seems like a cool legacy investment, with little chance of becoming invasive or problematic.
29athrowaway 5y ago
The monkey puzzle tree or araucaria can be found in southern Argentina and southern Chile. The nuts are locally known as "piñon" (singular) / "piñones" (plural). It is not my favourite nut I must say, but the flavor is OK.
- throwamon 5y ago
  They're also common in southern Brazil and Australia. There's an entire region in Brazil known as "Araucaria forest". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_moist_forests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_moist_forests I love their flavor, by the way.
Tagbert 5y ago
Do keep in mind that these are very large trees and the leaves(needles) are very prickly to deal with. It takes a long time for them to mature and I have heard people in Seattle say that they never produce cones here. There are several in our neighborhood, including our neighbor, but the homeowners obviously have no idea how large those trees will get based on where they are planted.

Not trying to be facetious. but maybe look out for monkey puzzle trees in your area? If you're in the PNW, there a few around: https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/usa-araucariaaraucana/ https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/usa-araucariaaraucana/

rootusrootus 5y ago
Apparently there are quite a few in the Portland area. Someone has been mapping them. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=142zMsWAyuf9uYKGu7tRRDXXuPmI&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&ll=45.574593814717744%2C-123.17622200000001&z=10 https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=142zMsWAyuf9uYKGu7t...
- mixologic 5y ago
  I used to ride my bike around every late summer gathering them from people's lawns. The trees have sexes, so one has to find the female trees. There are quite a few in Portland, and all relatively the same age because they were given away at the lewis and Clark exposition of 1905 by a representative from Chile. https://slabtowntours.com/2016/04/19/fun-fact-26-the-seedlings-of-portlands-heritage-monkey-puzzle-trees-citywide-can-trace-their-origins-to-what-slabtown-event/ https://slabtowntours.com/2016/04/19/fun-fact-26-the-seedlin...

johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago

They're found virtually everywhere in Florida.

tjr225 5y ago

There are some massive examples in Seattle. They are hard to miss and very peculiar. I believe they are an import from the west coast of South America: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana

culi 5y ago

Might be hard to find considering they're endangered

malekascha 5y ago

The experimental farm network has them for sale - apparently they'll be available March-April. https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/monkey-puzzle-tree?_pos=11&_sid=0f1ed8899&_ss=r https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/monkey-pu...

ianai 5y ago
Those trees are awesome! Look almost alien but also something I could imagine the dinosaurs eating.

robbedpeter 5y ago

3-4 decades to maturity, before you can harvest seeds, and it looks like you need male and female plants to cause seeding - I wonder if that can be gamed by grafting from mature trees, or artificial hormone sprays? 3-5 cm pine nuts sound awesome, though. 50m tall trees with giant cones and tasty nuts that can live a thousand years - a grove of these on a farm seems like a cool legacy investment, with little chance of becoming invasive or problematic.

29athrowaway 5y ago

The monkey puzzle tree or araucaria can be found in southern Argentina and southern Chile. The nuts are locally known as "piñon" (singular) / "piñones" (plural). It is not my favourite nut I must say, but the flavor is OK.

throwamon 5y ago
They're also common in southern Brazil and Australia. There's an entire region in Brazil known as "Araucaria forest". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_moist_forests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_moist_forests I love their flavor, by the way.

Tagbert 5y ago

Do keep in mind that these are very large trees and the leaves(needles) are very prickly to deal with. It takes a long time for them to mature and I have heard people in Seattle say that they never produce cones here. There are several in our neighborhood, including our neighbor, but the homeowners obviously have no idea how large those trees will get based on where they are planted.