We have a tree in front of our house that is about 34 years old. It has both female and male cones on it.We are getting alot of seeds from it. My question is : Can I eat these seeds?
Hi, I've just read this thread from 2 weeks' ago. I'm intrigued - I thought monkey puzzles were either male or female (dioecious), not both (monoecious)???? I've loved & studied monkey puzzles for years & only ever seen individual trees with either male or female cones. Is it really possible for them to have both on the same tree?
It is rare, but does happen occasionally. I found one with both sexes recently too. Got a photo, but it didn't come out well (bad light; I'll have a go at it with photoshop and post if it is rescuable). Maybe one in a hundred or something like that.
By the time I took the pic (late July) most of the male cones had fallen off, but there's two still on (a lot more earlier in the year when I first saw it, but without a camera to hand); one female in view, there were a few more round the back side of the tree.
here are two pictures of our tree. You can see the female and male cones. Can I grind the seeds into flour and use them that way in baking and cooking? Why I ask, I have Celiac desease and can't eat wheat,oats,barley and rye. I'm always looking for new things that I can have.
Wow! Thanks for the photos. It makes sense for the male cones to come & go before the new female ones mature, to prevent self-pollination. Where did you see the monoecious monkey puzzle which you photographed, Michael? Don't suppose it was SE England area?
'Fraid not; it's in Kyloe Woods, Northumberland (just inland from Holy Island, in the north of the county). Almost as far away as you can get without crossing into Scotland.
