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