New to the Mount Stromlo Gardens

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue44 1–30 September 2023

In the garden visible through the windows on the south side of Possum Hall there's a new addition - a Wollemi Pine.  The Wollemi Pine is often called 'a dinosaur tree' since its genus dates back to the Cretaceous period.  It was discovered accidentally in 1994 by hikers exploring remote canyons in the Wollemi National Park north west of Sydney.  Only about a 100 trees are known in the wild making it one of the rarest plants known.   The location of the grove of wild trees remains secret.  Fortunately, it was discovered that the tree could be successfully propagated and there are now examples growing in many different locations around the world.

Our tree has been grown from seed collected by the Friends of the National Arboretum (https://friendsarboretumcanberra.org.au/) from the Wollemi pines in Canberra's National Arboretum (https://www.nationalarboretum.act.gov.au/) on the western shores of Lake Burley Griffin.  The tree was donated by Del and Gary Da Costa and our own garden guru Howard Coyle planted it from a pot a few weeks ago.  The trees are hardy but relatively slow growing so it's likely to be quite a while before it reaches 2-3m in height (the trees in the wild are 25-40m tall!).  Look out for it next time you're in Possum Hall for a coffee.

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