Zone 10

This is not a pine, but a tropical tree. Best used as a free-standing specimen with plenty of room, this tree grows to 25 feet but also grows as wide. Its habit is to branch in tiers with its top in a pyramid shape

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The roots are significant with many brace roots

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increasing in number & size & width over time

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You may have seen the screw-pine's fruit in elaborate floral arrangements. Also the leaves are used in arrangements used for their tropical look and long, pointed affects.  We saw this variegated Screw Pine at Fairchild Tropical Gardens

What you probably have never seen is the inflorescence of the Screw Pine.  The nuts are not the seeds.  The nuts open into a cascade of pollen rich fiber.  First here's the tree

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Here are some bloom pictures:

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This tree wants full sun, is not fussy for soil content and is not salt tolerant.  Keep soil on the moist side and feed well, often

There are three main negatives to using screw-pine in a landscape

One, it's adult size of 25x25 can easily take over a home landscape. Even in commercial settings, the screw-pine must be planted 15 or more feet from any pedestrian walk, building or road

Second, the leaves shed actively so they are a nuisance to collect off lawns

Third, they seed easily, even into lawn grass, so new screw-pines will appear by the hundreds from the soil after flowering and need to be removed or killed

Otherwise, screw-pine looks great in proper settings

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