Jurassic Bark

Jurassic bark: the tree that grew in the age of dinosaurs comes to Kew
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
14 March 2005

It is what the dinosaurs would have brushed against, sheltered under or
hidden behind. Scratched themselves on, maybe. Knocked over carelessly.
Maybe even munched. It is the Wollemi pine, a tree species that was
going strong when dinosaurs ruled the earth, and survives today. And now
it has come to Kew.

The Royal Botanic Gardens has imported some of these living fossils,
whose discovery in a remote Australian canyon more than a decade ago was
the most remarkable botanical find of the 20th century. Kew Gardens will
put the Wollemi pine on display, and it intends next year to offer
Wollemi pine cuttings for sale.

The discovery of this tree was regarded as the botanical equivalent of
finding a small velociraptor or proceratops still alive on earth. It was
known from fossils 91 million years old, and it is presumed to have
flourished further back still, perhaps 200 million years ago on the
ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana, where it is thought to have
formed vast forests. The fossil records ended two million years ago and
it was long presumed to be extinct.

But in 1994 a young field officer from the New South Wales National
Parks and Wildlife Service, David Noble, stumbled upon a small group of
the trees while exploring unknown canyons in the Wollemi wilderness
area, in the Blue Mountains about 70 miles north-west of Sydney. They
were spindly blue-green conifers, with two ranks of needle-like leaves
along the branches, and bark with a strange bubbly appearance, which
reminded Mr Noble of the breakfast cereal Coco-Pops. He had no idea what
they were, other than that they were not recognisable.

When he took samples to botanical experts, it was quickly realised that
Wollemia nobilis, as it was named, was new to science, and eventually it
was placed in a genus all of its own in the Araucariaceae, or the
monkey-puzzle tree family.

Later scientists realised that it was identical to ancient fossils that
were already familiar, and the picture was complete.

The Wollemi pine had survived because of the remoteness of its location,
in the cluster of 500 steep-sided, barely accessible canyons in the
Wollemi national park, some so impenetrable it is thought they have
never been visited by humans. In the canyon's dark, wet interior the
trees were untouched by climate change, by 60,000 years of aboriginal
farming and by two centuries of farming by white settlers.

But there are few of them. "There are only about 40 trees in the wild,"
said Tony Kirkham, head of the Kew arboretum - the gardens' own
collection of more than 14,000 trees - and the man in charge of the
Wollemi pine project.

The wild trees are fiercely protected, with their site kept secret and a
two-year prison sentence threatened for anyone who harms them. The
intention of the national park service is that only bona fide
researchers will be allowed to visit them.

But Australia has licensed a propagation programme to produce thousands
of cuttings for sale, as this will provide funds for conservation, and
lessen the risk from collectors.

Kew has taken possession of several of these offshoots which are not yet
on display, but at the weekend Mr Kirkham, who is off to Sydney in a few
days for more talks on the project with Australian colleagues, gave The
Independent an exclusive preview. I can report that they are slightly
curious in appearance: they resemble nothing so much as old-fashioned
artificial Christmas trees, the sort with bendable arms that you used to
get out of the back of the cupboard in December and screw into a wooden
base.

Mr Kirkham added: "I think they might well end up as the typical
Australian Christmas tree in years to come."

Over the next few months Kew and its Sussex out-station, Wakehurst
Place, will be giving them hardiness trials to see how they stand up to
the rigours of the British climate. But in their native environment they
are subject to temperatures ranging from -5C to +45C so it is thought
unlikely they will have problems.


More on the Wollemi Pine:

_http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2004/wollemia-nobilis.html_
(http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2004/wollemia-nobilis.html)
_http://www.wollemipine.com/photo_gal.php_
(http://www.wollemipine.com/photo_gal.php)


How to get a tree:


Did you know?
.........................
The Wollemi Pine will be available for sale in 2005/6. This date has been
set to allow sufficient time for horticulturalists and scientists to research
and cultivate the plant so as to secure the ongoing survival and conservation
of this rare and threatened species.

As the 2005/6 public release of the Wollemi Pine in Australia and
internationally is expected to generate widespread demand, we encourage all potential
buyers to register their interest by subscribing to the Wollemi Pine
Conservation Club.

As a subscriber, you will receive Wollemi Watch - a quarterly e-newsletter
covering the latest product information and research findings on the Wollemi
Pine. Closer to the release date of 2005/6, we will also provide you with
details on how you will be able to purchase your own Wollemi Pine.



Go to this link to get notified of where the cuttings are being sold!

_http://www.wollemipine.com/subscribe.php_
(http://www.wollemipine.com/subscribe.php)

Thanks Marc.I really would like to have one of these.They are beautiful.

Me too....just not sure where I'd put it. :-)

As a retired paleontologist I just gotta have one. I'll clear out any thing else to make room! I feel an obsession coming on!

Isn't it just to amazing! This must just be unbelivebale for you Fog. Please let us know if you find a way to get one.
How cool!

Thanks so much for providing this article. I spent the next hour reading about it. I've already joined and hope I'll get the chance to get a seedling. Isn't it amazing that they believe some of the trees are 1000 years old? Imagine what those trees have seen!

It is indeed fascinating. I also joined and am in hopes a seedling, but no holding my breath. I believe they should go to those that can better care for them, study them, and nurture them. I truly hope that now that 'man' has descovered them we don't wipe them out with our zeal to study them.

If some of those trees are 1,000 years old, they are youngsters compared to the Bristlecone Pines growing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Some of these beauties are over 4,000 years old. The redwoods can live to be 2 - 3,000 years old. Some time ago, a Bristlecone Pine, believed to be one of the oldest, was cut down by a dentrologist who wanted to do a more thorough investigation. To protect the "oldest," the exact location of the tree is kept a secret.

Ya know, most people who study trees would be content to take a core but to chop down the tree - that is criminal!

With the Wollemi Pines - if they are using modern cloning techniques then it would do no damage to make thousands of copies. Hopefuly, thousands from each tree to preserve genetic diversity. Then spreading the clones as widely as possible around the world should go far toward both preserving the species and providing study material without destroying the wild population.

I did not take this photo.
It is from the official website of which it is part of the wallpaper section.
Shows a good aeriel shot of the tops.
.Noel