Bunya Bunya Pine Tree is a conifer with upright arranged dark green prickly leaves about 5 centimetres long. The Bunya pine grows to about 30 metres in height and approximately 20 metres in width.
The species adapts to a range of soils but will not succeed in those which remain waterlogged for long periods.
It produces very large cones around 30 centimetres in length and can weigh more than 4 kilograms. They have large seeds within the cone and are edible.
They can drop their cones at any given time and because of the trees height coupled with the weight of the cone they fall very heavily and can be quite dangerous especially if you are under it at the time!
My mother-in-law had a large cone come down on the roof of her land cruiser and it hit with a loud thud, when she picked it up she couldn’t believe the size and weight of it, and thanked her lucky stars it hit the car and not her head.
The bunya pine also makes an attractive potted plant when young, for both indoors and outdoors.
The Bunya Bunya Pine tree belongs to the conifer family and is considered a large tree; they are a very striking vision in the sky line, their shape being most unusual.
Propagation is generally carried from seed which germinates readily when fresh. Cuttings have also been successful but must be taken from upright growing shoots – cuttings from side shoots will not grow erect.
The botanical name for this pine is: Araucaria Bidurllii.