Joel, aged 10, shares his 'really cool plant' with Kids Talk
18.03.14
Joel says, ‘I think monkey puzzles are the coolest plants because they're spikey like a cactus - but are trees, and even monkeys can't climb them!'
Fun Facts:
- Monkey puzzle trees come from Chile and were around at the same time as dinosaurs!
- Monkey puzzles grow on the lower slopes of the Andes mountains.
- It was a British gardener in the 19th century who said that its unusual branches would puzzle even a monkey to climb. There are no monkeys in Chile, but the name stuck!
- Monkey puzzles have separate male and female trees.
- People in Chile eat the seeds of the monkey puzzle as a desert.
- The tree has thick bark and special buds to protect it from the fire and heat of erupting volcanos.
- A monkey puzzle can live for 1000 years.