Native to South and Central America, and found in the U.S. regions of Florida and the Virgin Islands, the monkeypod tree was also a source of fascination for one of Hawaii’s most famous annotators: Mark Twain, who first came to Hawaii when he was 31, is credited for planting a monkeypod tree on the Big Island in 1866—a time in which the Kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiians) were in grave decline. Presently, that tree in Waiohinu has become something of a roadside tourist destination on the southernmost tip of the island, where it continues to flourish in an otherwise end-of-the-world town and reminds all that see it of Hawaii’s complicated history.
William nailed it above. And I'm pretty certain it's a South American species. Weirdly in the same family as the indoor plant, the Norfolk Island pine, that you can buy as a gift around Christmas time.
Arucaria araucana Monkey Puzzle Tree
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