Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco)

This Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco) is not a pine tree. Its in the conifer division of plants. I planted this specimen on the SW corner of the house in Fall of 2004 and it now towers 15' taller than me. I bought it after Christmas marked down for 75-cents in one of the big box retailer's after-Christmas sales, several years back.

The tree's success is not so much that the tree is suited to this environment, but rather that I baby the tree and help it along, mimicking (for the tree) the conditions that it would find in its natural environment on Norfolk Island in the South Pacific. Norfolk Island occurs at 29.0 S. latitude (we're located at 29.5 N.) but Norfolk Island is surrounded by thousands of miles of temperate ocean and is not influenced by continental mid-latitude cyclones (cold fronts) like those we experience at least 5 months out of the year. Thus, this tree is succeptible to the occasional cold and frost that we can experience atop our sandhill in Central Florida.

The Norfolk Island Pine is a coniferous evergreen tree which has whorled branches and needlelike foliage. Its origin is Norfolk Island in the South Pacific Ocean, which is located between New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Australia.

The tree grows in a pyramidal shape with the limbs arranged in tiers. Each tier of the plant consists of 5 to 7 branches which are thickly set with sharp-pointed leaves that are 1/2 inch long and curved at the tip. As a houseplant its height can range from 2 to 10 feet. It practically never flowers or fruits in cultivation. The sapling stage is grown throughout the world as a houseplant and as an outdoor ornamental in warm climates. In their native environment, mature trees can reach a height of 200 feet with a trunk sometimes reaching 10 feet in diameter. These trees produce lumber that is used in furniture, construction, and shipbuilding.

Other species closely related include the New Caledonia Pine and the Monkey Puzzle Tree.

The scientific classification is as follows:

Kingdom -- Plantae Plants
Subkingdom -- Tracheobionta Vascular plants
Superdivision -- Spermatophyta Seed plants
Division -- Coniferophyta Conifers
Class -- Pinopsida
Order -- Pinales
Family -- Araucariaceae – Araucaria family
Genus -- Araucaria Juss. – araucaria
Species -- Araucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco – Norfolk Island pine

Species in the genus Araucaria include:

Species Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze – parana pine
Species Araucaria araucana (Molina) K. Koch – monkeypuzzle tree
Species Araucaria bidwillii Hook. – bunya bunya
Species Araucaria columnaris (G. Forst.) Hook. – New Caledonia pine
Species Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex D. Don – Moreton Bay pine
Species Araucaria heterophylla (Salisb.) Franco – Norfolk Island pine

A New Caledonia pine is pictured below. I sent my Mom one of these by accident for Mother's Day, 20 years ago. The tree is now quite tall, perhaps 75' tall, and leaning much like the specimen pictured below. My Pop always thinks the tree is going to tip over and that it should be cut down. Theoretically, these trees are not designed for the high winds that we occiasionally experience, but the one in Mom and Pop's yard has weathered many hurricanes and looks about like the one pictured below.Below, some other information (only slightly edited for space from the Norfolk Island Government) about Norfolk Island that is unrelated to gardening. . .but which makes me want to visit this place some day:

Norfolk is the highest point on the Norfolk Ridge which extends from New Zealand to New Caledonia. There are three islands in the group: Norfolk, Phillip and Nepean. Norfolk Island, 3 miles by five miles, is the largest and the home of some 1800 residents; the other two islands are uninhabited.

Norfolk is lush and semi-tropical and the home of the world-famous Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla). The pine tree is represented in our flag and shapes the outline of nearly every island vista.

There is evidence of Polynesian habitation of Norfolk some 600 years ago. European discovery occurred on the 10th of October 1774 by Captain James Cook. Norfolk was soon thereafter settled as a British prison and was to become known as the Hell in the Pacific to the convicts who were transported to the island.

Abandoned as a penal colony in 1855, Norfolk Island became the new home of the Pitcairn Islanders, descendants all of the Mutineers of the Bounty. The Mutineers and their families created a community which eventually became too big for tiny Pitcairn Island. Her Majesty Queen Victoria, for whom the Islanders held the greatest allegiance, offered them Norfolk Island as their own and they relocated in their entirety in 1856.

A total of 193 persons left Pitcairn for Norfolk and 194 arrived, Reuben Christian, Fletcher's great-grandson, being born on the way. The Pitcairn surnames of Adams, Buffett, Christian, Evans, McCoy, Nobbs and Quintal still dominate the Norfolk Island telephone book.

Norfolk Island today is a tourists' destination with a robust economy and a bright future. We are proud of our educational system and our commitment to our young people. It was that commitment which brought us to introduce the Internet to the Island in 1998. And now we have one of the highest per capita computer ownership ratios in the southwest Pacific - and two Internet Service Providers.

That is the type of island we are - proud of our past and excited about our future.