FEATURE ARTICLE
Ancient Wollemi Pines Resurgent
Ten years after its discovery, a vanishingly rare tree from the Cretaceous Period is a scientific darling and may soon become a commercial success too
Stephen McLoughlin, Vivi Vajda
In 1994, while clambering through the steep-walled sandstone canyons
of Wollemi National Park near Sydney, Australia, a park employee
spotted a stand of large, peculiar trees. He didn't recognize the
species and neither did a botanist friend—a reasonable failure
given that the plant was believed to have gone extinct two million
years ago. Thus was the wollemi pine rediscovered. The authors
summarize the tree's ecology and paleobotanical significance,
reflecting on the remarkable features of this vanishingly rare
holdover from the age of the dinosaurs. From its presence in
Cretaceous-Period fossils, to its onetime home in Antarctica, to its
hidden life in a moist pocket of dry Australia, the natural history
of the wollemi pine is remarkable. Its future promises to be
noteworthy as well—cooperative fungi that live among the
tree's roots synthesize the precious anti-cancer compound taxol, and
soon the plant will be marketed as an ornamental.
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