Jurassic pot plants

[I, Brian]

This is a fascinating story - a single creek in Australia harbouring a plant believed extinct, that has a fossil record originating 175 million years ago..,now turned over for full commerical exploitation.

Who wants one?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3139450.stm

Jurassic pot plants on sale soon

The Wollemi Pine, a plant from Jurassic times which survived in a single isolated Australian grove, is set for an amazing comeback.

In 2005, small plants cultivated from the tree once thought to have gone extinct will go on sale to the public.

The discovery of the pine in 1994 caused a scientific sensation, and prompted the Australian Government to protect the site where it was growing.

Years of investigation into the best way to grow the plant have now paid off, allowing commercial exploitation.

Like finding a dinosaur

A collection of Wollemi Pines were discovered in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, when park ranger David Noble stumbled across the unusual trees. The species had been thought to have been extinct for at least two million years. The only known examples were fossils 175 million years old.

Professor Carrick Chambers, director of Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, said at the time of the discovery that it was "the equivalent of finding a small dinosaur still alive on Earth".

Today, the trees' home is a closely guarded secret. No roads lead to the area. Even scientists studying them are blindfolded as they are flown in by helicopter to the site.

Now, the pines are set to meet a wider audience.

Perfect patio plants

Botanist Sally McGeoch says that by the end of 2005 Wollemi Pine saplings will be available from selected retailers.

They could survive in hot or cold climates and would make perfect indoor plants. "They grow slowly, like low-light and would be perfect on a patio," the scientist told BBC News Online.

The breeding programme began in 1998 as a collaboration between the Queensland Forestry authorities and a commercial grower.

The initial plan was to extract seeds from the tips of the pines. This involved a scientist dangling from a helicopter and was not very successful.

Working with cuttings has proven to be much more satisfactory in producing a robust plant for commercial propagation. "It's a piece of scientific history," says McGeoch. "Interest has already been expressed by gardeners in many countries."

[littlemissattitude]

Isn't it sad that we live in a world where they have to keep the location of things like this secret for fear of theft or vandalism?

Having said that, I think this is just too cool. I love it when some plant or animal comes to light that science has thought to be extinct. This just happened in Cuba with a little insectivorous mammal. And then there is my all-time favorite fish, the coelacanth (for more on this, see www.dinofish.com).

[dwndrgn]

I love the coelocanth. Mainly because of its cool name, but also because of the commercial that used it as an example.

[littlemissattitude]

My infatuation with the coelecanth began when I was in about fourth grade. We went to the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, and they had one preserved and mounted. It was so strange looking that I couldn't help but be fascinated with it. And then, of course, there was the fact that it had been thought to be extinct for so long.

[I, Brian]

Has anybody put an order in for the pot plants, though?