Wollemi pine Wollemia nobilis

One of the oldest known tree species in the world, Wollemia nobilis was only discovered in 1994 in a deep gorge in Wollemi National Park, Australia. It is so rare that only about 100 trees exist in the wild and their exact location is a closely guarded secret.

Wollemia nobilis was discovered in 1994 by David Noble, a National Parks Officer and keen bushwalker in Wollemi Park, north west of Sydney. This find was considered astonishing as it was thought that the species had died out around the time of the dinosaurs.

Fossil remains resembling the tree seem only to be found in the southern hemisphere, from Antarctica to New Zealand and Australia, with the oldest dated at 90 million years old.

Wollemia nobilis has proven to be more adaptable and hardy than its current subtropical distribution would suggest, surviving in temperatures between -12°C and 45°C. However, given that it has lived through a number of ice ages, perhaps this should not come as much of a surprise.

With so few trees in existence, information about this extraordinary survivor is limited. But on the evidence of those in Wollemi National Park, this unique evergreen can grow up to a monstrous 40m (130ft). It has distinctive dark green foliage and knobbly dark brown bark, which, interestingly, has been visually compared to the breakfast cereal Coco Pops.

The majority of trees have more than one trunk or have clumps of trunks. Almost all of the side branches do not produce other branches, an extremely unusual trait.

Leaves of the Wollemia nobilis are flat and linear, 3-8 cm long and 2-5 mm across. The leaf colour has a remarkable range, from pale green when young to a blue-green when mature. In colder months this changes to a bronze colour.

The seed cones are green, and mature 18-20 months after pollination. The cones then disintegrate, releasing the seeds. Trees are monoecious, and have both male and female reproductive cones.