Wollemi Pine

Wollemi Pine

== 2 of 6 ==
Date: Fri, Jan 4 2008 7:48 am
From: James Parton

Matt,

This reminds me of the Dawn Redwood ( Metasequoia ) which was found in
a small area in China back in the 1940s. It too was believed to be
extinct. It was marketed & has now been planted around the world. It
is a nice tree. I have seen one at the Biltmore Estate near Asheville
N.C. I look for them to do the same with the Wollemi pine but
according to the link you sent they are all genetically the same. I
wonder if that will cause a problem with marketing them. That is, the
lack of genetic diversity.

James Parton.

== 3 of 6 ==
Date: Fri, Jan 4 2008 4:15 pm
From: Steve G

James, Matt, ENTS

A friend of mine, an avid conifer collector, ordered and received a
Wollemi pine last spring, from the National Geo program. In person, it
more resembles a Podocarpus rather than the more closely related
Araucaria. He's planning to grow it in a cold greenhouse for a couple
of years, then propagate by cuttings, and eventually plant one out
here in northern Ohio. Although it's usually considered zone 6 in this
area, he's been able to successfully grow zone 7 plants(which Wollemia
is rated at) like Longleaf Pine and Camellia---it will be interesting
if it proves hardy.

Steve

== 4 of 6 ==
Date: Fri, Jan 4 2008 4:32 pm
From: "Paul Jost"

They are sold at:
http://nationalgeographic.guided.atomz.com/?sp_sr=rank&q=Wollemi+pine&Search.x=0&Search.y=0

http://www.ancientpine.com/servlet/Categories?category=Wollemi+Pine+Trees

== 5 of 6 ==
Date: Fri, Jan 4 2008 4:46 pm
From: Randy Brown

This page has a nice photo gallery:

http://www.wollemipine.com/photo_gal.php

== 6 of 6 ==
Date: Fri, Jan 4 2008 8:37 pm
From: James Parton

ENTS.

The Wollemi Pine reminds me somehow of the China Fir. Both have
bladelike foliage.

James Parton.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Wollemi Pine, dinosaur trees
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/35344370483227c5?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 2 of 3 ==
Date: Fri, Jan 4 2008 8:56 am
From: "Mike Leonard"

Matt,

Thanks for the link to that excellent web site. It really was one of the
most fantastic natural discoveries in a long time. I'll look forward to
the day when we can buy seedlings here in the US.

Mike

== 3 of 3 ==
Date: Fri, Jan 4 2008 1:02 pm
From: Larry

Matt, Thanks for posting that. It is always great to hear about such
a find! Larry

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Jan 5 2008 5:25 pm
From: mdnoone

Mike Leonard and ENTS,

I like to think of the Monterey pine when you talk about potential
wollemi invasiveness. Monteray Pine is a tree that was on the tract
towards extinction in its native range. Now it is the most widely
planted conifer in the world (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,
Kenya, Spain, Chile and more). Often it is considered an invasive in
these distant regions where it has become naturalized.

Monterey pine is a tree that preforms (by performance I mean forestry
economic viability as well as evolutionary success) better in areas
outside of its native range, just like many common exotic weeds we
see. Other pines such as slash pine and Caribbean pine (amongst other
pines and conifers) are planted widely in Australia and New Zealand
and also preform well if not better and are able to naturalize .
While many pine species are being planted in the southern hemisphere
the only pine species native to the southern hemisphere is located in
Malaysia, if my dendrology class memory is correct.

What is the evolutionary reasoning behind a tree species that seems so
apt to naturalize, but has been forced to retreat to 5 natural small
disjunct coastal populations. Is it that Monterey pines are waiting
out the current climatic conditions for the favorable climate
change. Wollemi pine used to have a very extensive range according
to fossils. Does this result in evolutionary potential to readily
establish/naturalize in areas of current or future favorable
climates. Also I wonder if it is possible that wollemi could have
always existed in its prime long ago with limited or no genetic
variation. How could we say for certain that it hadn't.

Finally what is the relationship between a species ecology and its
ability to naturalize or preform favorably outside of its native
range. For example what effect does species range (or some other
characteristic) have on the ability of a west coast North American
conifer to grow in New Zealand. Or is naturalization ability
primarily a climatic and geographic issue or is the issue to
complicated to simply summarize.

Matt

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Wollemi Pine
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/ebee6e6c4c3573c5?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Sun, Jan 6 2008 8:09 am
From: Lee Frelich

Matt:

There are a lot of reasons why trees end up confined to such small areas
and why they do so well across much larger areas when transplanted. I don't
think we know the reasons for the pine species discussed here--its amazing
how little we really know about most tree species.

Some of the reasons for limited ranges are accidents of history, so that
over millions of years a species ends up in a place where it can't do very
well. These accidents could include meteors or comets hitting the earth,
glaciation, volcanic eruptions, the rise of mountain ranges, changes in
location of the ocean either through direct impacts on a species (wiping
out a large proportion of the population) or through the resulting climate
change, or by putting physical barriers that a species can't cross to get
to better habitats (i.e. water, grasslands, deserts, mountain ranges).

Also playing a part in some cases are evolution of species of trees that
locally are better competitors, thus relegating the rare species to
marginal habitats, and local predators (especially grazers or insect
herbivores) or pathogens that prevent successful reproduction. If moved to
another part of the world, the species may be freed from some of these
limitations.

Lee

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sun, Jan 6 2008 7:33 pm
From: DON BERTOLETTE

Lee-
Good points!
I can think of good examples of relict species in California (Brewer's spruce, mountain hemlock, others) in the Marble MOuntain Wilderness, and in Arizona (Bristlecone Pine on several of the "sky islands", mountain peaks or ranges that rise up significantly from the desert (old sea) floor. In California, the abovementioned species lie in 'hanging glacial valleys' made disjunct by glacial advances from the last ice age.

-Don

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Wollemi Pine, dinosaur trees
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/35344370483227c5?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sun, Jan 6 2008 5:29 pm
From: Carolyn Summers

National Geographic¹s on-line and catalog store sells them.
--
Carolyn Summers

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Wollemi Pine
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/ebee6e6c4c3573c5?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 4 ==
Date: Mon, Jan 7 2008 7:00 am
From: pabigtrees

Wollemi pine, If I remember correctly, there were about forty trees
found. Originally they said it would not grow in zone 6, but maybe in
zone seven. I guess they really wouldn't know until they tried.
Haverford college has two in the greenhouse, and they hope to make
more as they get bigger and can afford cuttings for rooting. I wasn't
up to paying $100 for a non native tree that may or may not be an
invasive.

One question I have is how is it allowed into our country without
quarantine and testing for invasiveness? This has always troubled
me. I realize that most plants don't naturalize until they are very
mature. We have a very large Zelkova nearby that is about 100 years
old, and it is surrounded by a large grove of seedlings, maybe 200
saplings. Could this tree become invasive someday?

One other thing to consider about these trees that seem destined for
extinction is that they may have had another species that was
responsible for moving them around, and the helper is now extinct. In
the US. some believe the now extinct megafauna were responsible for
moving osage orange, kentucky coffee tree, paw paw and others with
large fruit/seed around.

I wonder if monterey pines occupied the shoreline more when the seas
were lower, and is waiting for them to receed to move back towards the
coast. Who knows.

Scott

== 2 of 4 ==
Date: Mon, Jan 7 2008 3:08 pm
From: Carolyn Summers

It sounds like your Zelkova is already invading. And there are no
meaningful plant quarantines at all that I'm aware of. I'm constantly
getting nursery catalogs proudly featuring the latest offerings from the
nursery owners' recent junket to China. Even some of the native plant
nursery owners can't seem to resist.

In my fledgling arboretum, I only plant species native to the NE although
with global warming in mind I'm also trying a few of the showier
southeasterners. And I'm guilty of planting some hybrids. Planting
non-natives, especially recent imports, is risky behavior. Look at how we
got HWA. Things haven't changed.

I'm trying to decide if I want a Wollemi as a house plant. This is part of
the problem - people love to experiment with cool plants.
--
Carolyn Summers
63 Ferndale Drive
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
914-478-5712

== 3 of 4 ==
Date: Mon, Jan 7 2008 4:15 pm
From: JamesRobertSmith

That is absolutely amazing. I'd heard about the Dawn redwoods in
China, but this is news to me.

== 4 of 4 ==
Date: Mon, Jan 7 2008 4:17 pm
From: JamesRobertSmith

What a strange looking tree, and what an astoundingly beautiful
National Park!

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