This is the puzzle – how could a monkey climb through these vicious branches without doing himself some serious harm?
Answers of no more than 15 words on a postcard please to:
Mrs Nobody
Nowhereisland
The Universe
The winner will be notified before the end of time and will be awarded with a great big sloppy smackeroo!
Off The Edge Gardening 
But the whole point, Mrs. Nobody, is that monkeys don’ t climb them, hence the name. It would puzzle a monkey as to how to climb it.
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For ages I thought this was also known as Pirana Pine, a timber I used at school. Then I found that was araucaria angustifolia – close relation. Anyone know if pirana pine grows in the UK?
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I learnt this poem as a young child, goodness knows why it has stuck in my memory:
Twisted old pine tree, I can plainly see
That you’re just making a face at me.
You wink one eye and you bend one knee,
And that’s why I call you the Monkey Puzzle Tree!
(…………. I’m sure it’s being middle aged that does it)
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I should add that in a few regions where it grows native there are no monkeys 🙂 So the name is just to puzzle us! 🙂
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It is a puzzlement for sure!
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