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THE TREE THAT OUTLIVED THE DINOSAURS

In August 1994, David Noble, a New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Services Officer was trekking and abseiling with friends in the Wollemi National Park near Sydney Australia. In a remote canyon he noticed the unusual nature of a tree and took a small fallen branch home for identification. A team of experienced botanists later declared the strange specimen a new genus with ancient lineage, making it a scientific discovery of international significance.

The Wollemi Pine is one of the world's oldest and rarest tree species belonging to a 200 million-year-old plant family. It is a majestic conifer that grows up to 40 metres (131 feet) high in the wild with a trunk diameter of over one metre (3.28 feet).

It was known from fossil records and presumed extinct until David Noble's chance discovery. The exact location of the Pines is a closely kept secret because of the pristine and fragile nature of the wild habitat. Only select researchers are permitted to visit the area on rare occasions.

Although less than 100 adult trees remain, they were thought to be widespread across Gondwana, an ancient supercontinent that existed before Australia broke off from Antarctica and began its movement north. The oldest known Wollemi Pine type fossil dates back 90 million years and it is believed that the Pines may have existed since the Jurassic period 200 million years ago. Before the Pine was rediscovered in 1994, it was presumed extinct for around two million years.

During the eleven years since discovery of the Wollemi Pines, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney Australia, has grown first generation trees from original cuttings. Soon, visitors to the Botanic Gardens will be able to take a walk among the jurassic trees that outlived the dinosaurs,

Dubbed the botanical find of the 20th century, the Wollemi Pine is now the focus of extensive research to conserve this ancient species. Soon you will be able to grow your own Wollemi Pine and be part of one of the most dramatic comebacks in natural history.
Horticultural experts believe that having Wollemi Pines in gardens, homes and parks everywhere is one of the best forms of insurance against loss in the wild.

If you would like to plant a Wollemi Pine in your garden and help preserve this ancient species, follow this link for more information http://www.wollemipine.com

 

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