Norfolk pines are very common here. Below is a big one; immature trees are easy to spot because they seem to focus on growing very tall and spindly before putting the effort into growing branches.
And what are the little fellas collecting down there?
Monkey tails, of course! The shed Norfolk pine 'leaves' can be up to two feet long and they're stiff and scaly the way you'd imagine a dried monkey tail to be. The boys jam them into their waistbands and then screech around. We have amassed a collection of at least two dozen monkey tails at home, which is good because what if the drifts of them under every tree do not provide enough amusement?
3 comments:
What amazing trees! Jeanne posted some pix of these trees a couple months back and we were puzzling over whether they were Monkey Puzzle or Norfolk Pine trees.
Hopefully the collection of monkey tails won't take over the house! If you ever get too many of them maybe you could send some back to the states?...
Oh - and I love the new feature explaining the header picture. I love those friendly little groundsels (and of course all the other beautiful flowers and landscapes you've posted).
I loved this picture and reminder of the wonder of collecting nature's treasures. I would have loved the monkey tails as a kid. We would bring all sorts of things home when we were kids but none as special as a monkey tail. When I walk at the Minnesota Zoo this winter and see the monkeys, I can think of the boys.
I'm pleased to give you a little 'explanation' for the header pictures, too-- it took a long time for me to figure out how to do it :-)
Monkey tails are awesome... just yesterday I raked up the winter detritus in the backyard... there was nearly a whole bucket-full of broken-down monkey tails that went into the compost. (And there are no Norfolk Pines in our yard...these were all happily transported home, and now we need some more!)
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