North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark Lee" <markl@nytec.com>]

Rick,
Where can I find a source of fresh monkey puzzle seed?
-Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Rick Valley
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2003 10:25 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] monkey puzzle


I have seen cones (and collected them) on trees that were under 40 yrs. and
less than 40 ft. tall.
I think the poor yield in the NW cities is because of bad pollenation; the
trees are widely scattered in older neighborhoods.
I compare the nuts to pinenuts, only they are huge (like the end of your
little finger) and not at all "piney" flavored. I've eaten them in Chile and
the NW. (although here the seed value is so high it's a rich food indeed!)
They are easy to grow if they are planted when fresh. Fortunately the cones
do not drop whole, but come apart like a true fir or true cedar. (unlike
some other Araucaria species) If you're in a subtropicral place there's
Brazilian and Australian species to try.
I think parks would be the ideal place for large plantings. Lobby! It's a
threatened species and needs help. The timber is incredible too: in the
words of one high-end finish carpenter friend "it planes equally well in all
dimensions"; hence, day was, it was favored for huge Zepellin propellers.
One thing to watch out for, is sudden death- I assume they can get root rot,
perhaps there are fungal enemies here that can kill them. I've seen 4 die,
although nearby trees haven't followed.

-Rick


_______________________________________________
nafex mailing list
nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Most questions can be answered here:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
File attachments are accepted by this list; please do not send binary files,
plain text ONLY!
Message archives are here:
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
To view your user options go to:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex/XXXX@XXXX (where XXXX@XXXX is
YOUR email address)
NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/