Northern Beaches FloraBaby Sun Rose Blowfly Grass (Briza maxima) Bottlebrushes Coastal Morning Glory (Ipomoea indica) Cyathea cooperi Grevillea ‘Peaches and Cream’ Grevillea Poorinda Royal Mantle Native Violet Norfolk Pine Ochna Pigface Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) Scurvy Weed Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) Spiny-headed Mat-rush

The Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), also known as the Norfolk Pine are one of the striking looking tree plantings along the northern beaches, seen from Manly, Dee Why, up to Palm Valley, Pittwater.

Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Dee Why Beach, Northern Beaches NSW
Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Dee Why Beach, Northern Beaches NSW

As the name implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia (located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia). The Norfolk Pines are well suited to coastal locations because of their high tolerance to salt and wind and on the coastal mainland regions of Australia, have become an iconic species.

Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Northern Beaches NSW
Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Northern Beaches NSW
Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Northern Beaches NSW
Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Dee Why, Northern Beaches NSW

Norfolk Island pines are not true pines, they are members of a pre-historic family of conifers Araucariaceae, a diverse and widespread family of plants during the Jurassic and Cretaceous time periods.

Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Northern Beaches NSW
Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Northern Beaches NSW

Common name
Also known as a Polynesian Pine, Star Pine and Triangle Tree. With its symmetrical shape as a sapling, they have also been called a living Christmas Tree.


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Phylum: Tracheophyta
  • Class: Pinopsida
  • Order: Pinales
  • Family: Araucariaceae
  • Genus: Araucaria
  • Section: Eutacta
  • Species: Araucaria heterophylla
Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Northern Beaches NSW
Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), Northern Beaches NSW

Footnote & References

  1. Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/127890-Araucaria-heterophylla

Northern Beaches FloraBaby Sun Rose Blowfly Grass (Briza maxima) Bottlebrushes Coastal Morning Glory (Ipomoea indica) Cyathea cooperi Grevillea ‘Peaches and Cream’ Grevillea Poorinda Royal Mantle Native Violet Norfolk Pine Ochna Pigface Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) Scurvy Weed Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) Spiny-headed Mat-rush

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