Araucaria heterophylla Norfolk Island pine

The upright trunk of this strikingly symmetrical conifer distinguishes it from A. columnaris (which see for other differences). It was this very uprightness that struck James Cook when, in 1774, he discovered and named Norfolk Island. Having already encountered the leaning A. columnaris, he judged the “spruce pine” of this island well suited for ship masts, and marveled that many were “as thick breast high as two men could fathom” – a fathom, about 6 feet, being the span of outstretched arms.

The branches of younger Norfolk Island pines radiate outwards like stars in neat, horizontal tiers, giving rise to another name, star pine (it is, needless to say, not a pine). Heterophylla (different-leaved) refers to the contrast between the longer, more needle-like juvenile leaves and the shorter, broader, awl-like leaves of maturity. The branchlets are densely clothed in these leaves, much as in A. columnaris and A. cunninghamii.

At 845 Ramona Street in Palo Alto stands the closest specimen to campus, about 25 feet tall; cones have been seen high up in its crown. Larger examples in East Palo Alto may be seen at the north end of 2197 East Bayshore Road and at 2265 Oakwood Drive.

At Manly Beach – a short ferry crossing from Sydney Harbor, and the site of Duke Kahanamoku’s 1915 surfing demonstration – the species lines the shore in majestic ranks, as it does along several famed surf breaks of Australia’s eastern coast, forming a dramatic backdrop to surf photography, much as Cook pines do along Oahu’s North Shore at Banzai Pipeline.