This conical evergreen tree can grow very tall, to a massive 60 m in its native Pacific Islands. It is almost perfectly symmetrical and tends to maintain its symmetry even in the face of strong winds.

The leaves are tightly packed, glossy and dark green. The young leaves are needle-like, while the broader adult leaves are triangular and scale-like. Since it is a coniferous tree, it bears flowers in roundish cones.

The Christmas tree was first discovered in 1774 by Captain James Cook during his second voyage to the South Pacific. He felt that these tall trees with their straight trunks would be suitable as masts for his sailing ships, but it was later realised that these trees are not resilient enough for this purpose.

It has a wide number of species. The tree belongs to the family of trees called 'Monkey-puzzle family of trees', constituting of fir trees. This term was coined during the mid-1800s when Charles Austin, a noted barrister, on seeing the tree for the first time commented that climbing the spiny, spiralling branches would be a puzzle even for a monkey.