New Find: Pine Trees as old as Dinosaurs

(with thanks to Rene Chaudhuri - Don Valley East)



"Ancient pine shown to be from the age of dinosaurs", by Marita Black

An ancient pine tree discovered in Sydney's "back yard" and hailed as one of the botanical finds of the century has been confirmed by ANU researchers and colleagues to belong to a new genus of plants previously known only as fossils from the dinosaur era.


The grove of around 40 pine trees was found last year by an officer from the National Parks and Wildlife Service at the bottom of a deep gorge, in the Wollemi National Park of the Blue Mountains. The tree, informally named "Wollemi Pine", was identified as belonging to the Araucariaceae family whose
members also include the New Zealand Kauri, New Norfolk Pine and the Queensland Hoop Pine. However the new tree failed to fit into either of the living two genera of the family, so the search began for possible relatives from the fossil record.


Dr Mike Macphail of the newly formed Division of Archaeology and Natural History in the ANU's Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS), was enlisted to examine pollen from the Wollemi Pine with the aim of ientifying and comparing it with other fossil pollen types. Other experts at the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney were studying other aspects of the tree, such as the leaves and cones.


Before pollen from the Wollemi Pine became available, the closest match to the species in the fossil record were leaves of a conifer called Araucariodies, preserved in 50-65 million year old sediments in New Zealand and Tasmania. Dr. Mcphail found the pollen to be a match to a fossil pollen type first described
in Victoria in the early 1960s and now known to have occurred up to 90 million years ago. This means that the Wollemi Pine would have been part of the landscape when dinosaurs roamed.


Fossil pollen and spores are often used to provide a history for living plants. The age and location of fossil pollens allow species to be traced over time and place, building up an evolutionary framework. Pollen is a reliable marker to look for as it produced by plants in vast amounts and survives very well
over time due to the strength of its cell wall. The appearance of pollen from different plants is also very distinctive which means that precise identification is often possible.


Thanks to petroleum exploration data, the Wollemi Pine has a well-established fossil history. It is thought to have been moderately common in rainforest up to around 30 million years ago, growing in Tasmania, at Bega and Bombala and around a meteor impact crater near Perth. The most recent specimens have been found in two million year old sediments in Bass Strait.


It is quite remarkable that the Wollemi Pine has been able to survive 90 million years on Australian soil, through periods of major global warming and cooling. Over this time, the Australian continent has "drifted" from a position adjacent to Antarctica to its modern position next to Asia.


"Why the Wollemi Pine has survived in apparently only one of many similar gorges in the Blue Mountains is a mystery," said Dr Macphail. "Long-term protection from fire and drought due to the rugged landscape and reduced competition from other plants due to infertile soils would not have been unhelpful in the recent past."


Unfortunately it appears that humans now pose the greatest threat to the survival of this ancient plant. Despite attempts to protect the grove's location, unauthorised visits have taken place.

Presenter: Jerry Coleby-Williams [08/10/2005]


Jerry profiles the ancient and remarkable Wollemi Pine


This is a story about one of the world's rarest and most ancient tree species. Incredibly, it narrowly escaped extinction, yet it will soon be offered to home gardeners so we can grow our own.


It’s a wollemi pine, a member of the Araucaria family, which also includes the kauri, bunya, hoop and Norfolk Island pines. It's a conifer, but a very curious one.


In 1994 we only knew them from fossils, but a chance discovery in a rugged gorge in the Blue Mountains, about 200 kilometres west of Sydney, revealed a grove of these ancient plants dating back 200 million years.


Mount Annan Botanic Gardens in south western Sydney is undertaking groundbreaking research into these plants. This includes looking after a conservation collection of the entire wollemi pine species. The gardens holds a clone of each of the 100 or so known plants to exist in the wild.


Wollemi pine world authority, Patricia Meagher, says there are many reasons to want one of these plants. “It's got wonderful leaves, very glossy, quite fine, and ferny looking, with a nice structure. In winter and autumn the plants develop a resin cap on the branches as protection from the cold and dry.


“The plants also have wonderful bubbly bark when they get older - in about 15 years you'd have good thick, bubbly bark.


“It’s possible to tell the age of branches on the trees by the leaf shape. Watch for the growth phase of long leaves and then small leaves and then long leaves in the middle and then small leaves. Each is a year's growth. So it’s possible to tell how well the tree is growing and the age of any branch by looking at the amount of growth phases on it. The branches are temporary and are eventually dropped.


“The natural architecture of the tree should be used to horticultural advantage. These plants can be used as pot plants and as small trees in the garden, and naturally as a large tree. Because it's a rainforest tree, it also grows well indoors, so it can be used as a pot plant inside.”


Patricia says, horticulturally, we have reached the jackpot. This plant has so many features for a home gardener . “Scientifically, every single time we've looked at the tree to learn anything about it, we've discovered something new and very unusual.”


She says the trees are quite fast growers. They are slow at first while getting their root systems organised, but then grow half a metre to nearly a metre a year. So they power along.


Patricia agrees the wollemi pine has generated lots of interest. “I'm fascinated by it and I know lots of scientists and horticulturists are amazed. But I'm astounded by the interest of the general public,” she said.


I'm completely sympathetic with people who find it fascinating because it comes from the age of dinosaurs, and has been around for 200 million years. There are few left in the wild….but it grows within 200 kilometres of Sydney - one of the most thoroughly botanically explored areas of the country. It's more Australian than Sydney Harbour Bridge and it just reeks with charisma.


Growing a plant that's almost extinct is not that hard. Provide an acid or neutral soil, dig in plenty of compost and it loves food and water. It grows anywhere you can grow its cousin, the Norfolk Island pine, and it will reach about 20 metres in 50 years and 30 metres in 100 years.


The wollemi pine will be a terrific plant for the home garden. You might want to plant it for its rarity or perhaps because it's a unique example of plant evolution. They're a long lived tree so you could well be planting a family heirloom. But the reason I'd plant one of these trees is to have a living connection with the age of dinosaurs.


If you're keen to get your own wollemi pine, a collector's edition will be auctioned in a few weeks. Otherwise, in April next year, it will be available from nurseries.

****

Further information:
The Wollemi pine collector’s auction is at 3pm Sunday October 23 at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Catalogues are available online at www.wollemipine.com email auction@wollemipine.com


--------------------------------


There's a nice website profiling the tree. Cut and paste the following site: