Hawk decorating the Norfolk Pine “Christmas Tree”.
The Norfolk Pine populates South Florida as our ‘fir’ tree for Christmas. Sold in 5 gallon containers with dapper red velvet ribbons between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, it is a nuisance tree. It is a nice nuisance tree.
Here’s what’s nice about the Norfolk:
1. It is highly wind resistant. Native to the Norfolk Island in the seas in the area of New Zealand and Australia, it is a coastal tree. Mine survived 4 hurricanes: Jeanne, Frances, Irene and Wilma. It lost many of its branches. Those branches whipped off the main trunk. But those branches are lightweight and the needles fall off easily. Despite the beating watery wind, the tree held its ground. It grabbed ground and held tight. After the storms subsided, the tree’s missing branches grew new ones. My tree is in full triangular form.
2. It is pretty. Other than the Slash Pine, no other pine trees populate this south in Florida. It cannot tolerate frost and neither can I . We have that in common.
3. The height attracts birds. I don’t bother looking up the height parameters because all my plants have exceeded their internet norms. In eyeball estimation, I’d say it’s 60 ft plus. The birds that love to ornament my tree are: Monk Parrots, Ibises and Hawks. Next time the Hawk is the star, I’ll get my binoculars out to note the color and pattern for more precise identification.
According to research, the Norfolk Tree is considered “vulnerable” on the species extinction graph. That’s not the case in South Florida where they are widely reaching to the skies.
But if you ask me, don’t plant one. They are not native to Florida. If cut, they grow back weak. If the trunk takes off in a hurricane, it is a mighty missile. And if it doesn’t go airborne in the storm, it can crash into the house.
I priced cutting it down. Five years ago, the price was $800.
Vulnerable to high prices, I left it standing.