Araucaria heterophylla Norfolk Island pine

An extremely attractive, highly formal tree with very unusual leaves arranged to form a smooth cylindrical cage about half an inch in diameter around the twigs.

At 845 Ramona Street in Palo Alto stands what may be the tallest in the area, at around 25 feet; cones have been seen high up in its crown.

Before the Chicxulub meteorite impact 65 million years ago, araucarias were growing in Colorado and New Mexico, as witnessed by fossils. The Norfolk Island pine was named by James Cook when he first saw them towering to 200 feet in October 1774. The Australian araucarias produce valuable wood.

Name derivation: Araucaria – Araucani Indians of central Chile; heterophylla – different-leaved.