Lullingstone Castle

And as far as trees go, the ‘Dinosaur tree’ (Dinopine) (Pinosaur) or ‘living fossil’ the Wollemi Pine‘ is thought of as one of the most thrilling botanical discoveries of the 20th Century.

A stunning example of this rare and endangered Araucariaceae, relative of the Monkey Puzzle tree, has been donated to Tom at Lullingstone Castle for planting in‘The World Garden.

On Monday 10th July, Tom planted the living fossil in the Australian border within his map shaped garden at his ancestral home.

New growth

Tom said, "over the past two years I’ve been so lucky receiving plant donations from all over the UK and Ireland – and although we’ve been given nearly £5,000 worth of plants, nothing can beat the donation of the Wollemi for excitement!  I know I get excited about plants, but the Wollemi is special.  I first saw the tree in Sydney gardens on my fateful plant hunting expedition in 1999 and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since".

In September 1994 David Noble, an officer with the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, discovered some trees he didn’t quite recognise. In a deep, narrow canyon of the rugged Wollemi Nation Park he discovered what is now called Wollemia nobilis or the Wollemi Pine.

The dramatic discovery of an evolutionary line thought to be long extinct is even more remarkable with these tall and striking trees growing only 200 km from Sydney, the largest city in Australia. They were found in the extremely rugged Wollemi National Park, a largely undisturbed wilderness area

The Wollemi Pine is bisexual (monoecious) with both male and female cones on the same tree. The round female cones produce the seeds, and the long male cones produce the pollen. The Wollemi Pine, a new conifer belonging to the family, is helpful in reassessing and comparing a range of Araucarian fossil plants going back about 116 million years to the early Cretaceous age.

It seems likely that the Wollemi Pine was once present over an extensive area of eastern Australia; and possibly over a very much wider geographic range including Antarctica, New Zealand and possibly India and southern South America.