The Latin word excelsus came into our language as excelso . This adjective is used to describe someone or something that is notable, eminent or distinguished . For example: “The new film by the Argentine filmmaker is an excellent documentary about border towns” , “In the last century we had an excellent president who was key in national development” , “The excellent Chilean striker could continue his career in soccer French" .
The adjective excellent is very positive : it refers to wonderful or outstanding characteristics . Suppose that a literary critic defines a writer as an “excellent novelist.” With this qualification, you will be referring to the fact that the author in question has a special talent for developing novels .
The adjective can be applied to people, objects or situations. Just as a novelist can be described as excellent, a novel (or any other type of book) can also be called that way.
An “excellent footballer” is one who usually stands out thanks to his ability . In any case, any player can have a “great game” : a game where he shined and had a great performance.
When the term is written with an initial capital letter , indicates the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), it mentions God : “I am not afraid because I know that the Exalted One will protect me,” “I was very young when I made the decision to consecrate my life to the Excelso” , “The Excelso guides my path” .
The araucaria excelsa , finally, is a type of araucaria that is characterized by its rapid growth and reaching a great height. It is worth mentioning that araucarias are trees that belong to the Abietaceae family group.
Other names by which this conifer is known are Norfolk Island pine , simply araucaria or, in the scientific field, araucaria heterophylla . The family to which it belongs, whose Latin name is Araucariaceae , is very old and the Norfolk Island , where it is endemic, is located in Australia. Since it has great value as a piece of natural ornamentation, it is cultivated in many parts of the world.
The point that makes the araucaria excelsa so attractive is that its branches have a striking symmetry ; They arise five per level from the trunk (which develops very straight), generally at an almost right angle to it, although they tend to lean slightly upward. Seen from a vertical perspective, each of the levels in which its branches are grouped forms a perfect pentagon.
The leaves are scale-shaped and this araucaria is considered a dioecious tree , since the female and male flowers are found on different plants, but there are also monoecious specimens, that is, they contain flowers of both sexes. The fruit of the araucaria excelsa is a globose cone whose diameter can reach 12 centimeters. It is important to note that only through sexual reproduction is it possible to guarantee that the symmetry that characterizes it is preserved; On the contrary, agamic reproduction (where gametes are not involved) is less stable.
The araucaria excelsa was discovered in 1774 by the well-known British captain James Cook , who, due to his fascination with the forests of Norfolk Island, soon used them for his benefit. The masts of the Royal Navy, for example, began to be manufactured with the trunks of these imposing trees that reached 50 meters in height.
Currently, it is possible to find specimens of araucaria excelsa that reach 80 meters in height, although many people use it as an interior decoration plant when it is still young, since its development is slow.