Tree Hugger: The Cook pine, aka "fake cell phone tower trees"

State of play: That's one way to describe the Cook pine, University of Florida horticulturalist Alyssa Vinson told Axios.

• The evergreen are scattered all over Pinellas and south Hillsborough, poking up from the tree line with their narrow, pointy tops.
• They grow up to 80 feet tall, Vinson said — so tall, hurricane winds sometimes knock their tops off.

Zoom in: For years, I thought they were called Norfolk Island pines, which Vinson told me is a common mistake. They come from the same family and look similar, but the Cook's branches grow closer together.

• Other relatives include the Bunya Bunya and the monkey puzzle.

How they got here: The trees are native to Australia and were brought to Florida in the 1950s as decorative plants.

Yes, but: They're not considered invasive, Vinson said. They don't have the same negative impacts on the native ecosystem as, say, Brazilian peppertrees or Australian pines.

The intreegue: If you've noticed Cook pines, you've probably also noticed that some appear like they're leaning to one side.

• There's a theory that the trees always grow toward the equator, but Vinson said their height and the speed at which they grow are the more likely factors for their lean.