My babies have arrived!

[Johnny Redgate]

My babies have arrived - aren't they lovely! Do you know what they are? They are to remind me of my time in Chile. I'd like a forest of them

[loripo]

Well that's quite a puzzle

[Johnny Redgate]

Originally Posted by loripo

Well that's quite a puzzle

cheeky monkey

[The Woodman]

Johnny, there's a small private estate near Greenodd in south lakes with numerous Araucarias growing in all sorts of places. It makes for a surprising and quite different view.

I often wonder about the young plants I see in nurseries. Many have poorly developed leaders but all adult trees seem to perfectly formed and I therefore assume that young plants become good. Is that the case do you know?

[Johnny Redgate]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Johnny, there's a small private estate near Greenodd in south lakes with numerous Araucarias growing in all sorts of places. It makes for a surprising and quite different view.

I often wonder about the young plants I see in nurseries. Many have poorly developed leaders but all adult trees seem to perfectly formed and I therefore assume that young plants become good. Is that the case do you know?

Sorry Woodman, I don't know anything about the leaders. This will be my first attempt at growing them. I would dearly like to find a fruiting tree and grow my own from seed. However, I'm told these little ones are probably 2 years old!

Don't know if you've ever seen them in their natural habitat but I remember them growing in dominant stands along ridges low down in the Andes (maybe 3 - 4000ft) in the Lake District area of Chile, well within the climatic range for late lying snow. Very strange looking forests. I might have a photo somewhere.

[The Woodman]

I would think that in their natural habitat as you describe makes for an unusual sight to western eyes. There's something quite thrilling in seeing such sights.

I've never been aware of self seeding in the UK and will ask my good friend who manages the woodland on this particular estate about seed production.

Good luck with your charges and if you could post an image of the pines in Chile, I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one interested in seeing it.

[loripo]

Yes - I'd be interested too. We have one in our local park, described as a 'young' one, certainly it's never had cones to my knowledge and I have examined it quite closely, just to see what wildlife might use it (One ladybird so far!)

[Johnny Redgate]

Some photos of Monkey Puzzle Country.

[The Woodman]

Thanks Johnny, what an unusual sight.

Is the understorey in the portrait image Southern Beech?

Why the preference for growing on the ridge?

Are the clear areas in the middle image natural or man-made?

[Johnny Redgate]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Thanks Johnny, what an unusual sight.

Is the understorey in the portrait image Southern Beech?

Why the preference for growing on the ridge?

Are the clear areas in the middle image natural or man-made?

I think the understorey is indeed S. Beech but I don't know which species.
I really don't know why there is an apparent preference for ridges.
I would think the clear areas are more likely to be land/vegetation slides on very steep slopes. There has been some significant tree clearance lower down from where the photo was taken to create pasture. I'm not entirely sure whether photo 1 shows a slope where the mature Araucaria have been mostly felled leaving the smaller trees to grow back or not. Possibly not. Photo 2 was taken from a bare ridge with thin grassy vegetation growing on volcanic ash.