Endangered 'living fossil' trees given new homes at two RHS Gardens
‘Dinosaur trees’ saved from extinction in an exciting plant conservation project at RHS Garden Wisley and RHS Garden Rosemoor
The Wollemi pine was believed to have become extinct about 70-90 million years ago. However, in 1994, Australian botanist David Noble discovered a cluster of living trees while trekking through a remote gorge in the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales. This discovery was hailed as one of the most important of its kind, and a significant effort was made to preserve these wild trees in the Blue Mountains. The deep valley where they were growing had helped buffer them from climate extremes.
RHS Wisley and RHS Rosemoor were among 28 botanic gardens across the UK and Europe chosen to receive part of a collection of 170 young Wollemi pine trees. The trees were shipped from the Botanic Gardens of Sydney and cared for at a Forestry England tree nursery. Separate collections of trees were also sent from Sydney directly to five Australian gardens and one in Atlanta, USA.