Wollemia

species of plant from Australia

Wollemia is a genus of coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae. It is a "living fossil", recently found in 1994. Its fossil record dates back 200 million years, and it was thought to be long extinct.

Wollemia
Temporal range:
Jurassic to recent 200–0 Ma
Young specimen in a botanical garden protected from theft by a steel cage
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Araucariaceae
Genus: Wollemia
W.G.Jones, K.D.Hill & J.M.Allen
Species:
W. nobilis
Binomial name
Wollemia nobilis
W.G.Jones, K.D.Hill & J.M.Allen, 1995

Wollemia nobilis was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales. in a remote series of narrow, steep-sided sandstone gorges near Lithgow, 150 kilometres north-west of Sydney.

In both botanical and popular literature the tree has been called the Wollemi Pine. It is not a true pine (genus Pinus) nor a member of the pine family (Pinaceae), but is related to Agathis and Araucaria in the family Araucariaceae.[2]

The Wollemi pine is classified as Critically Endangered (CR – D) on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List 2002.[3] It is legally protected in Australia. A Recovery Plan has been drawn up, outlining strategies for the management of this fragile population; the overall objective is to ensure that this species remains viable in the long-term.

Wollemia nobilis – young cone

References

change
  1. Thomas, P. (2011). "Wollemia nobilis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011. IUCN: e.T34926A9898196. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T34926A9898196.en.
  2. Fact Sheet: Wollemi Pine
  3. IUCN Red List (April, 2003) http://www.redlist.org