WOLLEMI PINE
The Wollemi Pine is one of the worlds oldest and rarest trees, it was thought to be extinct until 1994 when it was discovered by a bush walker in the Wollemi National Park in the now World Heritage listed Blue Mountains, 200 kilometres west of Sydney. It was called the botanical find of the century and is still considered critically endangered.
Wollemi is an Aboriginal word meaning “look around you, keep your eyes open and watch out”. The scientific name is Wollemi Noblis because of the Pine’s majestic qualities and also honours David Nobel who found the tree.
Some of the older Wollemi Pines in the National Park are more than 1,000 years old, the oldest fossil found dates back 90 million years ago but it is believed to have existed since the Jurassic period 200 million years ago.
The Wollemi Pine is a majestic conifer that grows up to 40 meters high with a trunk diameter of over one meter. The new spring growth is apple green contrasting against the older dark green foliage. Another unique feature is its pattern of branching with the mature foliage having two ranks of leaves along the branches. It’s bark is also distinct even among related species, looking very much like bubbling chocolate.
The leaves are flat 3-8cm long and 2-5mm broad they are arranged spirally on the shoot but twisted at the base to appear in two or four flattened ranks. The seed cones are green 6-12cm long and mature about 18-20 months when they release the seeds which are small, brown and papery thin.
References taken from: www.wollemipine.com