Araucaria bidwillii - Bunya Pine - 10 seeds

Only crops well once every 3 years so get these seeds when they're available!
 
This is a large Australian conifer growing up to 30+m tall with a straight rough barked trunk and a distinctive dome shaped crown, the branches grow in whorls radiating around the trunk and drooping, the glossy green foliage is concentrated at the tips of branches, is lance shaped, sharply pointed to 50mm long.
 
Male cones are narrowly cylindrical to about 20cm long occurring at the ends of branchlets in Autumn.  
Female fruiting cones are huge!  They are spiky and football shaped some weighing in exccess of 5+kg, maturing in Summer though the Autumn but usually only form in abundance once every three years.  Both male and female cones are shed from the tree and can be dangerous to anyone underneath although the female cones are more hazardous due to the weight and size of them so an exclusion zone must be created around these trees.
 
Each female cone contails 50 - 100 Bunya nuts, these are hard shelled and about 5cm long, they are edible and have been a traditional food for the Indigenous Australians and during the Bunya season in SE QLD, different tribes would put aside their differences and gather in the mountains for the Great Bunya Nut Feasts.
The Bunya nuts can be eaten raw, roasted or boiled and even turned into flour, the flesh is similar to chestnut and is low in oil and high in starch.
 
This is an emergent species in subtropical rainforest confined to QLD occurring between Nambour and Gympie and west to the Bunya Mountains in SE QLD with also a small population in north QLD on Mt Lewis and Cunnabullen Falls.
 
This is widely cultivated and is adaptable to a wide range of soils and conditions, it is even hardy in colder regions.
Best to train as a single leader when young, grow in well drained soil, mulch well and keep watered well in Summer, feed with blood and bone yearly.
 
The seeds have an unusual germination strategy where the emerging root develops into a tuber from which the sprout later grows which is known as crytogeal germination - this adaptation has been though  protect against wildfires and allows young plants to emerge when conditions are suitable.
It is essential to have moist conditions for successful germination.
 
This listing is for 10 seeds shipped on receipt of cleared funds.