New discovery gives hope of survival for critically endangered Wollemi pine

By Marcus Strom
Updated January 10 2017 - 3:08pm, first published 2:46pm
Dr Heidi Zimmer in a secret grove of translocated Wollemi Pines. Photo: Nick Moir
Dr Heidi Zimmer in a secret grove of translocated Wollemi Pines. Photo: Nick Moir
Fossilised Agathis jurassica leaves alongside modern Wollemi pine. Photo: Royal Botanic Garden
Fossilised Agathis jurassica leaves alongside modern Wollemi pine. Photo: Royal Botanic Garden
Aerial view of some wild Wollemi pines in Wollemi National Park. Photo: Rick Stevens
Aerial view of some wild Wollemi pines in Wollemi National Park. Photo: Rick Stevens
Dr Hannah McPherson, of the National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, inspecting a Wollemi pine. Photo: Royal Botanic Garden
Dr Hannah McPherson, of the National Herbarium, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, inspecting a Wollemi pine. Photo: Royal Botanic Garden
A Wollemi pine cone. Photo: Royal Botanic Garden
A Wollemi pine cone. Photo: Royal Botanic Garden
The root and trunk structure of the Wollemi pine, showing how it propagates vegetatively, or non-sexually. Photo: Royal Botanic Gardens
The root and trunk structure of the Wollemi pine, showing how it propagates vegetatively, or non-sexually. Photo: Royal Botanic Gardens
Dr Heidi Zimmer (left) with Dr Cathy Offord take the Fairfax team into the secret Wollemi pine site. Photo: Nick Moir
Dr Heidi Zimmer (left) with Dr Cathy Offord take the Fairfax team into the secret Wollemi pine site. Photo: Nick Moir
Dr Cathy Offord in 1994 at the site of the then recently discovered Wollemi pine in the Blue Mountains. Photo: Royal Botanic Garden
Dr Cathy Offord in 1994 at the site of the then recently discovered Wollemi pine in the Blue Mountains. Photo: Royal Botanic Garden

An Australian conifer that traces its lineage to the Jurassic period 150 million years ago was long thought extinct. Only traces of its ancestor Agathis jurassica existed in the fossil record.

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