Wollemi pine
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What is the Wollemi pine?
The Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis) is an extremely rare evergreen coniferous tree and the only member of its genus. Fewer than 100 adult trees and a few hundred seedlings survive in a remote canyon in Wollemi National Park, northwest of Sydney.
Adult Wollemi pines can reach 130 feet tall and often develop multiple stems as they age. Their dark reddish-brown bark has a bubbly appearance, thanks to spongy nodules. The species is considered a living fossil, with pollen grains and fossil fragments similar to it dating back as far as 201.3 to 145 million years ago.
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Where was the Wollemi pine discovered?
The Wollemi pine was discovered in 1994 within a remote canyon in Wollemi National Park, approximately 200 km (120 miles) northwest of Sydney. Its location remained hidden from botanists due to the tall sandstone cliffs surrounding the canyon system where it grows; accessing the trees requires helicopters or climbing equipment. Fewer than 100 adult trees and a few hundred seedlings survive in the canyon's sheltered microclimate. To prevent the introduction of pathogens, the exact location is kept secret. A bushfire in 2019-2020 threatened the trees, but a firefighting operation protected the species from extinction. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the species as critically endangered, though many are grown in botanical gardens and private collections globally.
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How does the Wollemi pine look different from other trees?
Wollemi pines can grow to 130 feet tall. Mature trees often have multiple stems and dark reddish-brown bark with spongy nodules, creating a bubbly look. Fertile branches have resinous leaves in four rows, up to 3 inches long, stiff, flat, and strap-shaped. Shade branches and young trees have shorter, narrower leaves in two rows. Female and male cones grow separately at the top of the same tree. The slender male cones can reach 4 inches long, while the rounder female cones can reach about 4–4.7 inches in diameter and appear spiny.
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Why is the Wollemi pine called a 'living fossil'?
The Wollemi pine is called a "living fossil" because it has survived relatively unchanged for millions of years, while its close relatives have become extinct. Wollemia nobilis gained this designation soon after its 1994 discovery. Pollen grains nearly identical to those of the Wollemi pine, classified in the genus Dilwynites, are common in the fossil record dating back over 90 million years to the Cretaceous Period. These trees disappeared from the fossil record within the last 10 million years as other Wollemia species gradually went extinct. Fossil fragments of leaves and cones, dating back to the Jurassic Period (201.3 to 145 million years ago), also closely resemble Wollemia.
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What threats does the Wollemi pine face in the wild?
The Wollemi pine is critically endangered, with fewer than 100 adult trees and a few hundred seedlings surviving in a remote canyon in Wollemi National Park. The species is threatened by bushfires, as demonstrated by the devastating 2019–20 fire season in Wollemi National Park, which nearly caused the species' extinction. A military-style firefighting operation was required to protect the trees. The introduction of pathogens also poses a threat to the trees, so the location of the trees is kept secret. Habitat loss also poses a threat to the Wollemi pine.
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How are scientists working to protect the Wollemi pine?
The Wollemi pine is a rare evergreen coniferous tree discovered in 1994, growing in a remote canyon in Wollemi National Park. Fewer than 100 adult trees and a few hundred seedlings survive in the canyon’s sheltered microclimate; its location is kept secret to prevent the introduction of pathogens. During the 2019–20 fire season, a military-style firefighting operation protected the species from possible extinction. The species is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, though cultivated in botanic gardens and private collections.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Wollemi pine, (Wollemia nobilis), rare evergreen coniferous tree, the only member of its genus. Wollemi pine was found in 1994 growing in a remote canyon in Wollemi National Park, about 200 km (120 miles) northwest of Sydney. This remarkable tree escaped discovery by earlier botanists in part because the only canyon system in which trees grow is bounded by tall sandstone cliffs, and access to the plants requires use of a helicopter or climbing gear. Fewer than 100 adult trees and a few hundred seedlings presently survive in the canyon’s moist sheltered microclimate; their location is kept secret to avoid the introduction of pathogens. The trees were threatened by a bushfire that burned most of Wollemi National Park during the devastating 2019–20 fire season, but a desperate military-style firefighting operation managed to protect the species from possible extinction. The species is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, though a number are cultivated in botanic gardens and private collections around the world.
Physical description
Adult Wollemia nobilis trees are up to 40 meters (about 130 feet) tall, frequently becoming multistemmed with age, with dark reddish brown bark characterized by spongy nodules that give it a “bubbly” appearance. The resinous leaves of the fertile branches occur in four ranks and are up to 8 cm (about 3 inches) long, stiff, flattened, and narrowly strap-shaped; those of shade branches and juveniles are two-ranked, shorter, and narrower. The megasporangiate (female) and microsporangiate (male) cones occur singly on different branch tips toward the top of the same tree. The pendulous slender microsporangiate cones can become 10 cm (4 inches) long and have numerous tiny pollen-bearing microsporophylls. The more massive globose megasporophylls can reach 10–12 cm (4–4.7 inches) in diameter and appear somewhat spiny because the cone scales have outwardly curved elongate tips. A single cone may produce more than 300 small flattened winged seeds.
Living fossil
- coelacanths (genus Latimeria)
- ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
- Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus)
- horseshoe crabs (order Xiphosura)
- Osmunda ferns (genus Osmunda)
- pelican spiders (family Archaeidae)
- segmented spiders (family Liphistiidae)
- tuatara (Sphenodon puntatus)
Soon after its discovery, W. nobilis became known as a living fossil. Pollen grains described in the genus Dilwynites are common in the fossil record of portions of Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and Antarctica dating back more than 90 million years to the Cretaceous Period and are virtually identical to those of the Wollemi pine. The trees that produced these pollen grains began disappearing from the fossil record within the last 10 million years when other species of Wollemia gradually became extinct. Leaf and cone fossil fragments stretching back to the Jurassic Period (201.3 to 145 million years ago) also bear a strong morphological resemblance to Wollemia. Thus, the recently discovered species represents a survivor of a group that was more widespread and diverse millions of years ago.
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