Norfolk Island pine of the Quinta da Vila

The tree you can see from all over Monchique did not come from these hills. It is a Norfolk Island pine, a conifer whose wild home is one small island in the South Pacific, and here it rises 36.5 metres over the terrace of the Quinta da Vila, in the village's municipal park. Portugal made it a Tree of Public Interest in 1993. The forest service measured it in 2006 at 4.1 metres round the trunk, with a crown 19 metres across, and gave its age as 150 years. That is an estimate rather than a planting record, and we have found no source that says who brought it here or when, so take it as roughly 120 to 180 years. Do not mix it up with its neighbour in the register. Monchique has a second classified araucaria, at the Quinta do Viador, which the forest service puts taller still at 44 metres. This one stands on the park terrace. The most recent sighting we found, from May 2025, was close to the register's point but not certainly this trunk. If you have stood under it lately, tell us. The park is free and a few minutes on foot from the Sao Sebastiao square; we did not find published opening hours. Our pin is the register's coordinate, so look for the terrace and then look up.