As a tree considered a living fossil it is very possible that you know Ginkgo bilobaBut, although it appeared on Earth long before the dinosaurs, today’s protagonist is likely to top the list of these magnificent and hardy species. Its scientific name is wollemia nobilisand a fossil was found whose age was close to 200 million years.
The species was discovered in 1994, in the Wollemi Park (hence its name) in Australia. It is popularly known as “Wollemi pine”, but in reality it is not a pine, rather it is more related to the Araucaria family, that is, to the Araucariaceae (the pines belong to the family Pinaceae).
The wollemia nobilis It grows to a height of approximately 40 meters, with a trunk thickness of up to 2 meters. Its growth is slow, as is the maturation of the cone, which will be ready after 18 months from its pollination.
It is a vigorous plant that lives in the high mountains, where the four seasons are well defined, with frosts, but the summer is mild, and the winter is cool. The ambient humidity is also high.
In habitat there are about 100 specimensthat is why it is very difficult to find it for sale, and when it is, its price is very high. It is an endangered speciesand that is why it is very important that, if we want and can have one in our garden, we have gone through CITES before, which is a regulator of threatened species, and they will be the ones who will decide whether or not they give us permission to have it.
The wollemia nobilis It is a spectacular conifer that, like all plants, but perhaps more so due to its long existence on the planet, deserves our most sincere respect and admiration. It would be a real shame if it were added to the list of extinct plant species, don’t you think?
