Wollemi Pine

From before the dinosaurs

In 1994, ranger David Noble discovered the last remaining individuals of Wollemia nobilis in the Blue Mountains. They are growing in an inaccessible gorge 200 kilometers from Sydney. The canyon made of sandstone is deep and warm. It supports a temperate rainforest vegetation.

The wollemi pine belongs to a group of primitive conifers that evolved about 200 million years ago, i.e. before the heyday of the dinosaurs. The oldest tree, King Billy, is 40 meters tall and 1,000 years old.

The pockmarked bark of the mature trees is typical. The seedlings grow slowly. To protect these primitive conifers from extinction the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney put together a comprehensive breeding program.

In 1994 in the Blue Mountains of Australia, park ranger, David Noble, made a discovery: some 200 km from Sydney he found the last individuals of the wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis), a living fossil had been discovered. The Wollemia belongs to the Araucariaceae, a family of primitive conifers that had evolved some 200 million years ago, i.e. before the age of the dinosaurs. Up until then this primitive conifer had only been known as fossils.

Ecology and habitat

It is a slender tree of 35 m high, often with several different trunks arising from one stump. The pockmarked bark of mature specimens is its unique character. Each tree has both male and female cones. The seeds are winged so that they can be dispersed by the wind. The saplings grow slowly. The tree has a life span of 500 – 1000 years. The wollemi grow in a deep, warm, sandstone ravine within a temperate rainforest vegetation. Every individual (about 300 in total) has been registered.

Threat

One species with very few individuals growing on a small site, is very vulnerable. One storm or disease is enough to render this species extinct. In order to prevent this, a cultivation programme was started. The Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney increased the number of Wollemia through sowing seeds and taking cuttings. Through the rearing of many offspring and spreading them across the globe the risk of extinction has been alleviated. Plant lovers can now buy their own specimen of Wollemia nobilis and so help to preserve this tree.

The site where Wollemia grows in the wild is within a national park, the Wollemia National Park.