Wollemi Pine

It's not everyday you see a tree in a cage. Animals at a zoo yes... evergreens in a park, not likely. Well, here is an evergreen in a cage in Wakehurst Place, Sussex. It is the Wollemi Pine, one of the world's oldest and rarest tree species. Once only known in the fossil record, living specimens were discovered in 1994 by a bushwalker in the Wollemi National Park just outside Sydney, Australia. Thus the reason for the cage; It keeps people out, not trees in.

Cuttings were sent to Botanical Gardens in Europe, Taiwan and Japan and until October there was no public access to the trees. October 23 Sotheby's auctioned trees grown from the first cuttings taken from the wild population. The 292 trees sold for A$1.5 million with each tree fetching between A$2000 and A$7000.

Unfortunately, it was reported November 4 that root rot fungus has infected one wild tree and that all of the wild trees are now at risk.