Jurassic forest.

A tree thought to be extinct since the dinosaurs has turned up in a remote Australian park.

Last August David Mogul was out bush-walking, just north of Australia's Blue Mountains, when he found a small group of odd-looking trees. Intrigued, Mogul took a branch from one of the trees back to his office at the Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service. No one there could identify it. Next, the mysterious sample, which looked more like a fern than part of a great tree, was sent to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, where taxonomists were similarly perplexed by its complex foliage. Only when they began to compare the plant's leaf structure to fossil records were the scientists able to determine that what Mogul had stumbled onto was a tree thought to be extinct since the age of the dinosaurs.

"It is remarkable that this species of handsome, tall tree remained undiscovered within 200 kilometers [125 miles] of Sydney," said Barbara Brigs, who heads up the scientific division at the Gardens. "Even more remarkable is the fact that it is most closely related to extinct species of Araucariaceae [a gnus of South American and Australian pines] found in the fossil record in southern Australia about 50 to 150 million years ago."

Named the Wollemi pine, after the huge park in which they were found, the 39 conifers are now believed to represent some of the rarest living plants on earth. Ken Hill, the taxonomist who first classified the ancient trees, says the Wollemi has great potential as an ornamental and, like other conifers, may eventually provide useful byproducts. "The tree produces copious resin," Hill said, "and screening for active biological compounds should be undertaken at the first opportunity."

Adult trees in the one-acre stand run from 88 to 115 feet in height, and one fallen trunk measures 124 feet long and 10 feet around. The Wollemi has a "highly unusual" brown, knobby, cork-like bark, and, unlike other conifers, its leaves are a light green. According to Hill, the tree's nearest living relatives are the Hoop, Bunya, and Norfolk Island pines; however, it is most closely related to extinct pines that dominated the ancient Jurassic super-continent, Gondwana, which later split into Africa, South America, Australia, and India.

Kathy Offord, a horticultural research officer at the Mount Annan Botanic Garden, says the rainforest area in which the trees were found is accessible only to the heartiest "cane bushwalker," an Australian term for naturalism who regularly trek into remote areas.

"It is so inaccessible," says Offord, "that very few people have ever been to that valley." This fact probably explains why the small stand of trees remained undiscovered until now.

Offord and her colleagues have been working urgently with a minimum of plant material to propagate the "living fossil," as it is being called. As proof of the importance of their mission, she points to a rash of bush fires that swept through the area in 1993, and to the potential for damage by curious humans.

"There are only 23 adult trees and 16 seedlings," she says, "and we'd really like to leave this population alone so it can live on naturally. If we can successfully propagate the plant, it will alleviate the need for people to go into the valley for specimens."

Offord's team has been experimenting with cuttings, seeds, and tissue cultures to ensure the Wollemi's survival. So far, one seed, bathed in a nutrient solution, has sprouted, and they are hopeful more will follow. "Once we determine exactly where it fits on the evolutionary scale, the Wollemi will probably fill an important gap in our knowledge of ancient flora," says Offord.

She adds that the potential exists for other such discoveries in the vast wilderness areas of Wollemi park. "There are many unexplored valleys in that area," she says. "Who knows what else is out there?"

FOR MORE INFO

Dr. Barbara Briggs/Ken Hill Royal Botanic Gardens Mrs. Macquaries Rd. Sydney, 2000 Australia Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Kathy Offord Mount Annan Botanic Garden Mount Annan Dr. Narellan 2567 Australia Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]