Bunya bunya

Almost 8 pounds and about a foot long

The bunya bunya or bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii) is a native of Australia and has very large cones. The seeds are edible.

The bunya bunya existed during the Jurassic era and so possibly dinosaurs dispersed the seeds.

Araucaria bidwillii was named after John Carne Bidwill who found it in 1842. Wikipedia explains that Araucaria comes from "...the Spanish exonym Araucano ("from Arauco") applied to the Mapuches of central Chile and south-west Argentina, whose territory incorporates natural stands of this genus."

The genus Auaucaria has other trees familiar to us in the bay area - The Norfolk Island Pine and the Monkey Puzzle Tree.

In 1891 you could have bought yourself a bunya bunya from the California Nursery Company. Would you have thought about how big it would be in 120 years?