You will find our young Monkey Puzzle tree inside the Japanese Garden.
Evergreen conifer
Leaves are thick, tough and scale-like
The national tree of Chile
Native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina
First brought to the UK in 1795 by Archibald Menzies, an explorer and plant collector from Perthshire
Can grow up to 30m in height
Fun facts:
The common name “monkey puzzle” was coined in the mid-1800s when Charles Austin, a noted barrister, on seeing the tree for the first time commented that climbing the spiny, spiralling branches would be a puzzle even for a monkey.
