'O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, you stand in splendid beauty!' goes the old familiar carol, as it describes the tree through rain and shine, and especially during the Yule season.
It is the Christmas season and there is no other reason needed to get a Christmas tree into one’s home.
There are optical fibre and plastic ‘trees’, but they are nothing compared to the living species, Araucaria cookii.
The ancient family, Araucariaceae, contains three genera (Araucaria, Agathis and Wollemia) and forty-one species of cone-bearing trees, native to forested regions of the Southern Hemisphere, including South America, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand.
The Monkey Puzzle Tree, Araucaria aruacana, is the National Tree of Chile. It is considered a fossil tree because of its ancient origins, and is endangered due to rampant logging and forest fires.
ABOUT ARAUCARIA
Christmas trees of the Araucaria group are mainly large trees with a massive, erect trunk, growing up to a height of 30 m (100 feet) or even more.
The horizontal to slightly hanging branches grow in tiers. They are covered with needle-like leaves. In some species, the leaves are narrow, awl-shaped like a cat’s claws.
The trees are mostly dioecious, with male and female cones found on separate trees. They include A. Angustifolia, A cunninghami, A. heterophylla and A. bidwillii with differing widths of leaves.
Although sometimes referred to as ‘pines,’ members of the araucaria family have seed cones and foliage that are distinctly different from those of the pine family.
Trees in the pine family have cone scales with a pair of winged ovules (seeds) on the upper surface; members of the araucaria family have only one ovule per scale.
The seed of Araucaria is fused to the scale and falls with the scale when the cone disintegrates.
The Australian Pine, Casuarina equisitifola may look like a Christmas Tree, and may even be used as one, but is not an Araucaria. It was introduced into Goa in the 1960s by the Forest Department for planting of ‘shelter belts’ along the coast, but have done more damage than good on the beachfront.
The casuarina or shuru needle-like leaves (botanically 'cladodes' or branches) do not decompose easily and cover the sand with a thick, unsightly mat.
In the 1980s, araucaria plants were sold by the foot, at approximately ₹ 100 per foot height of a plant, give or take a few inches here or there.
When people became more conscious of money, it changed to ₹ 10 per inch and every inch of length mattered. A 10-inch tall plant cost ₹ 100, while one had to pay ₹ 140 for a 14-inch plant.
Prices have risen exponentially over the years, and some day, we may have to pay by the millimeter.
Christmas trees are sun-loving plants. You can keep them indoors for some days, but do not forget them indoors after Christmas. They are not indoor plants.
Add a handful of compost every month and keep the soil moist. There are a few huge trees in Goa, but they are not as old as you may think. Araucaria trees are mostly a post-Liberation introduction into Goa, and are now easily available in nurseries across Goa.
Have a great Christmas season!
The author is a former Chairman of the GCCI Agriculture Committee, CEO of Planter's Choice Pvt Ltd, Additional Director of OFAI and Garden Superintendent of Goa University, and has edited 18 books for Goa & Konkan.