150-year-old tree being cut down, in modern Britain, the needle-like points of its leaves are deemed a danger to health and safety

By Beth Hale
Last updated at 12:14 PM on 24th May 2008

For 150 years, it has stood in splendid serenity on the village green, harming no one and pleasing many.

Over the decades, the monkey puzzle tree at West Cross, near Swansea, became a much-loved local landmark.

But now it is facing the chop … because, in modern Britain, the needle-like points of its leaves are deemed a danger to health and safety.

One expert likened the effect of the needles to being pricked by a hypodermic syringe.

‘Every effort is made in this day and age to prevent children playing with discarded syringe needles,’ a report stated.

‘Every effort must be made to prevent children coming into contact with these potentially, equally sharp needles.’

‘The tree is part of the local landscape and has been for a century and a half. It rarely sheds its foliage and there are plenty of volunteers here who would be happy to clear up the needles.’

Danger: Tom Henderson, five, of West Cross, Swansea, with one of the needles

Her husband, a 57-year-old sustainability manager with Thames Water, said: ‘This is a crazy decision to cut the tree down.

‘We have put this to the test by trying to prick ourselves with the needles, but have not been able to – that’s how dangerous they are.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1021517/150-year-old-Monkey-puzzle-tree-facing-chop-council-says-needles-like-syringes.html

The monkey puzzle tree: A 'living fossil' the dinosaurs dined on

• The monkey puzzle tree is native to the Andes of Chile and Argentina.

• Plant collector Archibald Menzies is thought to have introduced it to Britain in
1795.

• It got its name when a gardener in Cornwall was showing his specimen to friends and one remarked: ‘It would puzzle a monkey to climb that.’

• It is sometimes associated with bad luck.

• Often described as a living fossil, its family the Araucariaceae can be traced back to the Mesozoic era, which started 250million years ago.

• Far from deterring monkeys, the spiky leaves probably developed to try to fend off grazing dinosaurs.

• Araucarias can live for 1,200 years and reach 160ft.

• To some indigenous peoples of Chile and Argentina, the tree is sacred.

• The seeds were traditionally collected as a food crop.

• Trade in its timber is now banned because it is so rare.