note from the article about why they stopped growing them

Also interesting to note that most of the date palms in Israel now were imported from California.

I imagine they would most likely cross polinate with species that are compatible, it wouldn't preserve the species, but it would preserve many of the genetic traits of the plant (hopefully)

A hybrid with an existing date palm can be a solution, but even if such hybrids are viable they may turn out to be barren.

Ahh, thanks, I'd missed that part, Morg. Yes, I'm sure they'd try cross pollinating but then you would have a new hybrid, really, wouldn't you? Still it would have some of the characteristics of the parent plants and thus the Methusaleh version. Pretty wild stuff! :D

[ 06-15-2005, 03:19 PM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

Wow, someone call the Grammar Nazi.

As for "getting some learning" lets see, using "your" instead of "you're", "realy" instead of "really", and then the horrible grammar of saying "get you some learning" I really hope that was intentional or my faith in public education just got worse that it has ever been.

If you are going to criticize someone elses education and maturity level,
at least take the time to correct your own post. </font>[/QUOTE]http://www.m2pt5.com/pics/funny/grammernazis.jpg

Keeping an intresting topic alive ..

has anyone outside Australia heard of the Wollemi Pine? ‘Dinosaur tree’ or ‘living fossil’, the Wollemi Pine is certainly one of the greatest botanical discoveries of our time. In September 1994 David Noble, an officer with the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, discovered some trees he didn’t quite recognise. In a deep, narrow canyon of the rugged Wollemi National Park, he discovered what we now call Wollemia nobilis or the Wollemi Pine. The dramatic discovery of an evolutionary line thought to be long extinct is even more remarkable with these tall and striking trees growing only 150 km from Sydney, the largest city in Australia. They were found in the extremely rugged Wollemi National Park, a largely undisturbed wilderness area.


Discovering the Wollemi Pine in 1994 was like finding a family of dinosaurs alive and well. Growing only in a deep sandstone gorge of the Blue Mountains, the Wollemi Pine has intrigued and frustrated scientists. The genetic diversity of the ancient pines is exceptionally low, perhaps the lowest for any plant in the world. Nearly all of the 80 trees are clones - they have identical genetic code. How has it managed to survive through 200 million years of shifting continents and changing climates?

<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1371627.htm> ABC catalyst</a>

<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1371627.htm> ABC catalyst</a>

[ 06-17-2005, 08:13 AM: Message edited by: wellard ]

Wellard that is really cool! I love stories like this where something long thought lost is found alive and thriving. And it is fascinating that they haven't been changed much by outside influences after all these years!


Oh, almost forgot, the link takes me to an Australian Broadcasting 'page not found' page.

<font color=skyblue>I remember a story similar to that one that said that the oldest tree in existance had been found but I cannot remember where they said it was, besides a mountain somewhere. It also was a pine of some sort.</font>

I can't get the link to work again either Cloudy :rolleyes: Anyhow just type in Wollemi Pine into google and there are a million sites out there.

Larry that sounds like one and the same story. It is amazing how nature can survive even though we do our best to stuff it up :D

When I was a kid, I got fascinated by the coelocanth, a fish that outdated the dinosaurs by millions of years. Check it out.

Oh I remember that one, Attalus! Really wild stuff, finding things that we thought no longer lived or reproduced and here they are in some long forgotten mountain pass or crevice in the see!

Hmmm. Yes it is amazing that there are spots on this tiny globe where we have not looked yet [img]smile.gif[/img] .
These single species living fossils that cling on despite evolution racing past them are (while rare) not infrequent. Ginkgo biloba is another example of such a genus/species. Once the world was covered in lush Ginkgo forests. Not to mention the peculiar Welwitschia mirabilis only found in the Namibian desert. Weirder plant you'll never see - I vouch for that.
I think we will continue to uncover representatives of phylogentic lines we presumed lost. Not only must the discovery and observation be made - it must be made by someone educated enough to make use of it. To most people plants is just one big mass.

edit: nvm...forgot to look at the 2 other pages...

[ 06-18-2005, 07:29 AM: Message edited by: Raistlin Majere ]