Araucaria heterophylla

Norfolk island pine

Scientific name : Araucaria heterophylla 

Family :  Araucariaceae

The tree is slow growing and can reach a height of 50–65 m (160–210 ft), with straight vertical trunks and symmetrical branches.

 From the straight trunk, it emits its branches almost horizontal or slightly oblique, in number of five, forming floors; the plane of each floor is a perfect pentagon.

 If kept indoors, the tree remains smaller. The gray-brown bark falls off in fine scales. 

The branches are four to seven in regular whorls.

The young leaves are soft and awl-shaped, 1–1.5 cm long, about 1 mm thick at the base on young trees, and incurved, 5–10 mm  long and variably 2–4 mm broad on older trees. 

The thickest, scale-like leaves on coning branches are in the upper crown.

 The cones are squat globose, They disintegrate at maturity to release the nut-like edible seeds. 

The seeds have a length of 2.5 to 3 cm and a diameter of about 1.2 cm  with wide wings.

 There are four cotyledons present. It is a dioecious tree (male and female flowers in different plants), although it can also be monoecious.

The scientific name heterophylla ("different leaves") derives from the variation in the leaves between young and adult plants.