Bunya Pine Information - What Are Bunya Pine Trees

Araucaria bidwillii, commonly known as the bunya pine and sometimes referred to as the false monkey puzzle tree, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the plant family Araucariaceae.
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Araucaria bidwillii.

Bunya pine Temporal range: Jurassic – Holocene
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Araucariaceae
Genus:	Araucaria

What is Bunya pine used for?

Bunya pine, (Araucaria bidwillii), also called bunya bunya, large evergreen conifer of the family Araucariaceae, native to humid areas in southeastern Queensland, Australia. The saplings are sold as houseplants in many areas, and the cream-coloured wood is used for veneers, plywood, and boxes.

Is Bunya pine a hardwood?

Tall softwood tree. Grows 30–45m high and to 1.5m diameter. Straight trunk, often branch-free for two-thirds of the height.

What does Bunya mean in Aboriginal?

bunya bunya(noun) nut tasting like roasted chestnuts; a staple food of Australian aborigines.

Can you eat Bunya pine?

Bunyas are best eaten fresh. However, when you have found a lot of bunyas you can freeze the nuts in their shells. You need to prevent the nuts from sprouting if you want to eat them. If you keep intact cones, the nuts tend to sprout inside the cones so break them up and put the nuts in the fridge.

Can I grow a pine tree from a pine cone?

You can't plant a pine cone and expect it to grow. ... By the time you gather cones that fall from the tree, the seeds have probably already been released from the cone. Even if the seeds in the cones are at the exact perfect stage of ripeness, sprouting pine cones by planting entire pine cones still won't work.

How long do Bunya pines live?

They will reach a height of 35 to 40 metres, and live for about 500 years.

Are Bunya pines protected?

The Bunya pines grow in fertile basalt soils in this cool and moist mountain environment. ... Saw logs for Bunyas come from plantations only, as they are protected in their national park wild habitat. Stand well back!

What are the characteristics of hoop pine?

Description

Large tree growing to 50m high and 1.8m stem diameter.
Usually has a straight cylindrical trunk.
Bark in mature trees is rough and dark brown to nearly black.
Bark in young trees is smooth and can peel off around the stem circumference.
Hoops are apparent when bark is stripped from the trunk.

How do you propagate Bunya pines?

Try to protect the seeds from rodents and harsh weather. Weed the planting area well, then place the seeds on the bare ground, covered with forest litter. Position staked, plastic tree guards around each one. This manner of planting lets the seeds germinate at their own rate and the tap roots grow as deep as they can.

What does Nanga mean?

nanga. Australian slang word/term for an "idiot". Doing something silly!

What is the Aboriginal word for hello?

Some of the most well known Aboriginal words for hello are: Kaya, which means hello in the Noongar language. Palya is a Pintupi language word used as a greeting much in the same way that two friends would say hello in English while Yaama is a Gamilaraay language word for hello used in Northern NSW.

What does Bunya mean?

: an Australian coniferous tree (Araucaria bidwillii) bearing seeds about two inches long which have the flavor of roasted chestnuts when ripe and are a staple food of the aborigines among whom the tree is hereditary property and is protected by law.

What does a Bunya nut taste like?

It's hard to find anyone who doesn't like the taste of Bunya Pine nuts. The flavour is described similar to a starchy potato or chestnut.

What pine tree produces food?

These edible pine cones have been a key part of Indigenous culture for thousands of years. For anyone familiar with bunya pine trees (Araucaria bidwillii), summer is associated with a distinct and interesting botanical phenomenon.

How do you roast Bunya pine nuts?

There are two main ways to cook the nuts – you can boil them in salted water for half an hour, or roast them in a 200 C oven for half an hour. We did half the nuts each way just to experiment. After cooking, you crack open the shells and remove the soft insides – again, a lot like removing the meat from a chestnut.

How long does it take a pine tree to grow from seed?

Seeds will germinate promptly and uniformly after stratification. Unstratified seeds may take up to two years to germinate, if they are able to germinate at all. Pine cones should be collected in the fall when the cones begin to crack and open.

What happens when you put a pine cone in water?

The scales of seed-bearing pine cones move in response to changes in humidity. When warm and dry the pine cone opens up to release the cone's seeds. When it is damp or cold, the scales close up. ... When wet the pine cones cells expand, when dried they shrink.

How long does it take for a pine cone to sprout?

They will take between one and three weeks to sprout. You can strategically position your pine cone in the soil close to your seedlings, but not directly on top of the seedlings or you will kill the seedlings.

Why is it called a monkey puzzle tree?

The current name is said to have started in the 1850s when the owner of a young specimen near Bodmin, Cornwall, showed the tree to some friends. One of them pointed out its spiky trunk and winding branches and remarked that "It would puzzle a monkey to climb that".

How do you grow a tree from a pine cone?

Grow An Adorable Pine Tree From A Cone In 5 Easy Steps

Go to the woods. ...
Put the pinecone in a pot - so that most of it stands out. ...
Pour it every day with a small amount of water, as excess water will make the pinecone rot. ...
After some time, a tiny tree will appear. ...
Congratulations - they just started oxygen production and you have a piece of forest in your own home.

Are pine cones native to Australia?

Pinus radiata) are not native to Australia but in some places have become naturalised (can exist on their own in the wild). Many of our native conifer species are not found anywhere else in the world, that is, they are endemic to Australia.