The Bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii) is a giant, evergreen conifer tree found almost exclusively in Queensland, Australia. It’s been around since the days of the dinosaurs – and it might well have taken out an unsuspecting raptor or two with its giant and heavy cones.
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The Bunya pine can grow up to 50 metres and live for 600 years. It becomes the most dangerous in between December and March when it typically drops its cones. Up to 20-35 cm in diameter (roughly the size of a rugby ball) and weighing up to 40 pounds apiece, they are more than heavy enough to kill whoever is unlucky enough to be in their line of fire.
And some have been unlucky. In 2012, a cone fell on a couple in Queen’s Gardens in Nelson, New Zealand, and left them bruised and requiring hospital treatment. In 2015, a man sustained a severe head injury after being hit by a 7kg pinecone in San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. It was reported he needed three operations and was left with “severe and likely irreversible cognitive effects” – he ended up suing the park, the US government, and the National Park Service for $5m in damages.
The Bunya pine has a strong cultural connection to the Aboriginal Australians – for hundreds of years, the edible seeds provided a food source for them and were considered sacred. The seeds can be eaten raw, roasted or cooked, and their taste has been compared to chestnuts, although less intense.
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Top image: Close-up of a Bunya pine cone at the base of a Bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii). Credit: Robert Myers/Getty Images
