#araucaria

[turnnoffyourmind]

Magic

National Park Conguillio, La Arauncania, Chile.

[piscerte]

Araucárias🌲

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Sunday 15 March 2026

Fossils from the Jurassic period show that trees very similar to Araucaria araucana (monkey puzzle, Chile pine, money puzzle tree) have been growing for around 200 million years. These plants are part of Edinburgh Botanic Garden, Scotland, conservation work as despite surviving for so long, this species is now endangered in its native habitat across South America.

Jill Raggett

[transparentfossil]

8.5" Petrified Wood (Araucaria) Round - Madagascar

[jcelgueta]

Araucaria near the border with Argentina, La Araucanía - Chile

©JC Elgueta

Spot Location: Camino dirección Paso Mamuil Malal

📍https://maps.app.goo.gl/28mBLcHosu7SciJR9

[drhoz]

Drhoz and Purrdence’s NZ Trip 2025-2026 : Curio Bay

Another of the places we visited for the geology, or rather the paleontology, while we were visiting the Catlins.

Curio Bay (and some 20 kilometers of the coastline here) is the site of an 180 million-year-old petrified forest, once populated by trees closely related to the living Kauri (Agathis sp.) and Norfolk Pine (Araucaria heterophylla). The forests were buried in volcanic mudslides and debris at least four times, regrowing in the millennia inbetween, and the stumps and fallen trees have been beautifully preserved on the intertidal platform.

The intertidal platform had a delightful range of species as well. Such as this mussel living inside the hollow petrified stump of a Jurassic tree.

The area is also home to the largest surviving population of yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) but alas we missed seeing them coming ashore in the evening, despite heading to the viewing platform at dusk.

On the other side of the road a forest featuring as many plants as might have been found in the Petrified Forest when it was alive has been planted. At least these days it's unlikely to be buried in volcanic mud, unless something has gone extremely wrong.

[kristo-flowers]

not so healthy conifer along the ocean

[blooming-lenses]

monkey puzzle tree (araucaria) 2024/07/13