The genus is familiar to many people as the genus of the distinctive Chilean pine or monkey-puzzle tree ("Araucaria araucana"). The genus is named after the Spanish exonym "Araucano" ("from Arauco") applied to the Mapuche of central Chile and south-west Argentina, whose territory incorporates natural stands of this genus. The Mapuche people call it ', and consider it sacred. Some Mapuche living in the Andes name themselves ' ("people of the """) as they traditionally harvested the seeds extensively for food.