A rare species of conifer, dubbed the “dinosaur tree” has been planted at two RHS Gardens – our local one at Wisley and at Rosemoor in Devon. The plantings are part of an international conservation effort to save them from extinction.

The critically endangered Wollemi pine has lived through two major ice ages and is now under threat from Australian wildfires. 

The tree can reach up to 40 metres high and has fern-like green leaves that grow in dense clusters, existed 200 million years ago during the Jurassic period when dinosaurs walked the Earth. 

Described as a “living fossil”, it was thought they had become extinct 70-90 million years ago, until 1994 when Australian botanist David Noble stumbled across a cluster of living trees whilst trekking through a remote gorge in the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales.  The deep valley where they were growing had helped to buffer them from climate extremes.

Efforts were made to preserve these wild trees in the Blue Mountains. However, they are increasingly vulnerable to diseases and narrowly escaped being destroyed by wildfires in 2019-2020 which burnt more than 10 million hectares of land in eastern Australia.

Due to these ever-increasing risks, Botanic Gardens of Sydney teamed up with Forestry England on a planting initiative which aims to create a rich, genetically diverse population of these wild trees around the world. 

Recent advances in genetic techniques have enabled the Australian plant science and conservation experts to identify and breed genetically diverse Wollemi pines. 

For the first time, these genetically diverse collections of saplings are being made available to botanic gardens across the world.

RHS Wisley and RHS Rosemoor are among 28 botanic gardens across the UK and Europe chosen to receive part of a collection of 170 young Wollemi trees that were shipped over from Botanic Gardens of Sydney and cared for at a Forestry England nursery.

Tim Upson, RHS Director of Horticulture and Gardens, said: “We are thrilled to be part of the extraordinary story of the Wollemi pine which has travelled all the way over from the Blue Mountains of Australia. The Wollemi is a true survivor. 

“Six Wollemi pines around three or four feet high have been planted at RHS Garden Wisley and another six at RHS Garden Rosemoor. They will be cared for and carefully monitored by the curatorial teams and allowed to grow to full maturity.” 

Trees were also sent from Sydney to five Australian gardens and one in Atlanta in the US.