Creating a striking landscape effect wherever it is used, screw-pine has a pyramidal, sometimes irregular, open, but much-branched silhouette. The smooth, stout trunks is topped with full, graceful heads of long, thin leaves, three feet long and three inches wide, emerging spirally from stubby branches. It is not a true pine tree. The blue-green foliage color adds to the striking nature of this exotic tree. The leaves are edged with small red spines and are used to make mats and baskets in the tropics. Branches have prominent leaf scars which encircle the stems. Large brace-roots emerge from the trunk several feet above the ground, helping to support the plant. Screw-pine is capable of reaching 60 feet in height but is not usually seen over 30 feet in USDA hardiness zone 10 and 11, with a spread of 20 feet. Growth rate is slow to moderate, depending upon fertilization and watering schedules, and screw-pine is very popular for use as a specimen or container planting.
