The Lost Valley of the Wollemi Pine

[xchrom]

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/2012/06/30/the-lost-valley-of-the-wollemi-pine/

In 1994, New South Wales National Parks & Wildlife Service Officer David Noble stumbled on some trees in a canyon in an inaccessible part of Wollemi National Park. He’d never seen anything like them before. Indeed, when he took samples to botanists, they confirmed it was something they’d only ever seen before in the fossil record.



They were the descendants of an ancient line of conifers that had been thought extinct for millions of years. They became known as “Wollemi Pines”.

For those who think there’s little left to discover on our planet, it should be noted these rare trees were discovered a mere 150 km away from Sydney, in a wilderness area in the Blue Mountains. If giant aged trees can still be discovered in this day and age in major, industrialized countries, then there is still plenty out there left to surprise us.

[Surya Gayatri]

1. Thanks for posting, xchrom. Such interesting

info. that I wouldn't necessarily find myself.

[Igel]

2. I remember reading about those in Science News.

And feeling a bit sheepish when the first thoughts through my mind were "I wonder how big they get?" and then "Would they make good guitar soundboards?"

Argh.

[NickB79]

3. All those offshoots look like prime rooting candidates to make new transplants

I imagine I'd be arrested if I snipped a few branches though.

[Odin2005]

4. Very cool!