Gondwanaland Trading Company
From the Ends of the Earth, to the Beginning of Time!

Monkey Puzzle Tree

(Arcaria araucana)
Arcaria araucana

We were on our second day into a four day backpacking trip in Conguillío National Park in the province of Malleco in the Araucanía Region of Chile. We were collecting the seeds of the famed Arcaria araucana tree and hiking through thickets of plants and trees which were surrounded by expansive fields of sharp volcanic rock. The going was treacherous and battling the slope was exhausting. Our feet kept slipping and twisting on the shifting rocks and we longed for level ground. We heard the sharp crack of rock hitting rock and looked up just as the slope above us started to give way. We ducked behind a massive araucana tree whose trunk must have been 7 feet in diameter and held on. The rock rolled and bounced past us on both sides of the great tree with a deafening roar. We could feel the vibration in the massive tree as the rock slammed into it for what seemed like minutes but was probably seconds. After the rock stopped it was incredibly quiet. We all let out a collective breath of relief and started to collect the litter of seeds from the “Lifesaver tree”. No one said a word as we continued the hike back to our base camp. We offer several sizes of Arcaria araucana, trees each grown from the seed collected from this great “Lifesaver tree”. Specimens for sale vary in age from three to seven years old.

Monkey Puzzle Tree

Monkey Puzzle Tree

$85.00 Sale! $65.00