Wollemi Pine - conserving an endangered species

For our tenth wedding anniversary earlier this year, my hubby and I bought ourselves a Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis).

These so-called dinosaur trees were believed extinct and had only been known in the fossil record until David Noble discovered a small stand of the trees in existence while bushwalking in the Wollemi National Park in 1994. Since then, another two stands have been discovered in the rugged mountain ranges nearby. However, as less than 100 trees exist in the wild, the exact location of the stands of trees remains a secret.

Shortly after, the research arm of Queensland Forestry refined a propagation technique initially used for the propagation of a relative pine Araucaria cunninghamii (hoop pine) and a commercial nursery at Birkdale (just outside Brisbane) developed the plants for the retail market.

Its taken quite a few years for the trees to become available in retail stores, and part of the reason was the time to establish and grow a significant amount of hedged propagative parent material from which to take cuttings for the establishment of large numbers of trees. By having a large number of the trees available for purchase by a given date, the idea was to cut-out any black-market trading of clones or theft of planted trees. Having the trees available for purchase also reduced the risk of damage to the wild population by visitors. In addition, the royalties from the sale of genuine plants will be used to fund the conservation of the pine.

So far, our little tree has shed its waxy "snow cap" and has sprouted lime-green new growth in a whorl at the apex and also as an unexpected bonus each branch is also sporting the distinctive new growth at the tips. The leaves appear to be arranged on the branches much like the plates on the back of a stegosaurus, yet they are still soft to the touch - not prickly and spiny like its cousins the hoop and bunya pines.
We look forward to enjoying our very own 'dinosaur' Christmas tree for the next few years before planting it out in our garden.