? Wollemia Conservation status: Critical
Young specimen in a botanical garden protected from theft by a steel cage
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Pinophyta Class: Pinopsida Order: Pinales Family: Araucariaceae Genus: Wollemia Species: W. nobilis
Binomial name
Wollemia nobilis W.G.Jones, K.D.Hill & J.M.Allen

Wollemia nobilis is a remarkable coniferous tree that was discovered in 1994 in a remote series of narrow, steep-sided sandstone gorges in a mild temperate-zone rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, 150 km north-west of the Australian city of Sydney. Download high resolution version (480x640, 67 KB)A Wollemi pine photographed by me, in its protective cage at botanical gardens. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Orders & Families Cordaitales† Pinales   Pinaceae- Pine family   Araucariaceae- Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae- Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae- Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae- Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae- Plum-yew family   Taxaceae- Yew family Vojnovskyales† Voltziales† The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales† Pinales   Pinaceae- Pine family   Araucariaceae- Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae- Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae- Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae- Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae- Plum-yew family   Taxaceae- Yew family Vojnovskyales† Voltziales† The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... Families Pinaceae, pine family Araucariaceae, araucaria family Podocarpaceae, yellow-wood family Phyllocladaceae Sciadopityaceae, umbrella-pine family Cupressaceae, cypress family Cephalotaxaceae, plum-yew family Taxaceae, yew family The Order Pinales in the Division Pinophyta, Class Pinopsida comprises all the extant conifers. ... Genera Agathis Araucaria Wollemia The Araucariaceae are a very ancient family of conifers. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales† Pinales   Pinaceae- Pine family   Araucariaceae- Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae- Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae- Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae- Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae- Plum-yew family   Taxaceae- Yew family Vojnovskyales† Voltziales† The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... A gorge is a narrow passage between steep mountains or hills. ... The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ... Wollemi is a national park in New South Wales (Australia), 129 km northwest of Sydney. ... Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Nickname: First State, Premier State Other Australian states and territories Capital Sydney Government Governor Premier Const. ... A kilometer (Commonwealth spelling: kilometre), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1,000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ... This article is about the metropolitan area in Australia. ...

In popular literature, the tree has been named "Wollemi Pine", though this is a misnomer, as it is not a pine. Species About 115. ...

Wollemia is an evergreen tree reaching 25-40 m tall. The bark is very distinctive, dark brown and knobbly, quoted as resembling chocolate-coated Rice Krispies. The tree coppices readily, and most specimens comprise multi-trunk clumps of trunks thought to derive from old coppice growth. The branching is unique in that nearly all of the side branches never have further branching; after a few years, each branch either terminates in a cone (either male or female) or ceases growth; after this or the cone is mature, the branch dies. New branches then arise from dormant buds on the main trunk. Rarely, a side branch will turn erect and develop into a secondary trunk, this then bears a new set of side branches. A Silver Fir shoot showing three successive years of retained leaves In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant which retains its leaves year-round, with each leaf persisting for more than 12 months. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth. ... BARK (Binär Automatisk ReläKalkylator) was completed in February 1950 at a cost of 400. ... A Rice Krispies box from the 1970s Rice Krispies is a brand of breakfast cereal that causes cnacer. ... Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management, by which young tree stems are cut down to a foot or less from ground level. ... A cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus, plural strobili) is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta (conifers) that contains the reproductive structures. ...

The leaves are flat linear, 3-8 cm long and 2-5 mm 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, 6-12 cm long and 5-10 cm in diameter, and mature in about 18-20 months after pollination; they disintegrate at maturity to release the seeds. The male (pollen) cones are slender conic, 5-11 cm long and 1-2 cm broad. In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... A ripe red jalapeno cut open to show the seeds For other uses, see Seed (disambiguation). ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomea purpurea), hollyhock (Sildalcea malviflora), lily (Lilium auratum), primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ...

Discovery

The discovery, by David Noble, a field officer of the Wollemi National Park in Wentworth Falls, in the Blue Mountains, only occurred because of his adventurous bushwalking and rock climbing abilities. Luckily, he had good botanical knowledge and quickly recognised the trees as unusual and worthy of further investigation. Noble returned with specimens that he expected someone would be able to identify. However, it was soon found to be new to science. Further study would be needed to establish its relationship to other conifers. All that was at first suspected by the botanists was that it had certain characteristics of the 200-million-year-old family Araucariaceae, but was not the same as any living species in the family. For this reason the species is described as a living fossil. David Dave Noble (born 1965) discovered the Wollemi Pine on September 10, 1994. ... Cliff overlooking the Jamison Valley The Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, roughly 100 kilometres west of Sydney, are a range of sandstone mountains that reach to at least 1190 metres above sea level (in the Lithgow area). ... Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ... Genera Agathis Araucaria Wollemia The Araucariaceae are a very ancient family of conifers. ... Living fossil is a term for any living species (or clade) of organism which closely resembles species otherwise only known from fossils and has no close living relatives. ...

Comparison with living and fossilised Araucariaceae proved that it was a member of that family, and it was placed into a new genus with the other extant genera Agathis and Araucaria. Fossils resembling Wollemia and possibly related to it are widespread in Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica, but Wollemia nobilis is the sole living member of its genus. A fossil Ammonite Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally having been dug up) are the mineralized or otherwise preserved remains or traces (such as footprints) of animals, plants, and other organisms. ... Species See text The genus Agathis, commonly known as kauri or dammar forms a relatively small group of 21 species of evergreen trees in the family Araucariaceae, characteristically with very large trunks and little or no branching for some way up. ... Species See text Araucaria is a genus of coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae. ...

Fewer than a hundred trees are known to be growing wild, in three localities not far apart. Genetic testing has revealed that all the specimens are genetically indistinguishable, suggesting that the species has been through a genetic bottleneck in which its population became so low (possibly just one or two individuals) that all genetic variability was lost.

In November 2005, wild-growing trees were found to be infected with Phytophthora cinnamomi. New South Wales park rangers believe the virulent fungus was introduced by unauthorised visitors to the site, whose location is still undisclosed to the public. Binomial name Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called root rot or dieback. infects the roots by zoospores entering the root behind the root tip. ...

Cultivation and uses

A propagation programme is underway with the first commercial release of this plant worldwide scheduled for 2006, with sales in Australia and elsewhere. It may prove to be a valuable tree for ornament, either planted in open ground or for tubs and planters. It is also proving to be more adaptable and cold-hardy than its restricted subtropical distribution would suggest, tolerating temperatures down to -5°C, with one unverified report of a young plant surviving a temperature of -12°C. Like many other Australian trees, Wollemia is susceptible to the pathogenic fungus Phytophthora cinnamomi, so this may limit its potential as a timber tree. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Lumber. ...

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Wollemia nobilis

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External links and references

• Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens website gives facts and figures, ecology, biology.
• Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew's web page about the "Wollemi Pine"
• WollemiPine.com
• BBC News item 10 May 2005
• ABC-TV Science visits Wollemi Pines in the wild 19 May 2005