In 1994, David Noble practiced canyoning in the Blue Mountains, Australia. He encounters trees he does not recognize and brings specimens back to the botanists in Sydney. The examination leads to describe Wollemia nobilis, a new species for science belonging to a very old line of conifers.
The discovery seems to bring the past into the present. However, the trees encountered are not individuals who would have lived since the time of the dinosaurs. The age of their kinship and that of a trunk are two different questions. The nickname of prehistoric tree can easily make you forget this distinction.
Researchers must then learn how to multiply these plants and keep them in cultivation. The discovery thus changes its nature: it is no longer enough to identify what had escaped the scientific eye, it is necessary to organize its safeguarding. Collections grown in different gardens provide insurance against threats to the small wild population, including fire and disease.
What we know
Ancient lineage does not mean trunk millions of years old.
To go to the source
References consulted on 3 October 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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