WOLLEMI PINE:Adelaide and Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens

It's been called the botanical find of the century. As the helicopter swoops through the gorges of the Blue Mountains, another team from the National Parks and Wildlife Service approaches a stand of Wollemi Pine. They're the last of their kind, a tree thought to have been extinct for millions of years, a tree which has outlived the dinosaurs.

It's said New York's Empire State Building could fit in some of these gorges. Only in such an inaccessible wilderness could the Wollemi Pine have remained undiscovered. This stand of Wollemi Pine is an hour's chopper flight from downtown Sydney but it was found, not from the air, but by a ranger who was out exploring a remote canyon in the Wollemi wilderness. Back in 1994 David Noble stumbled onto a cluster of these majestic trees.

"Yes, about the 4th September we came down this canyon and found this tree down here, the Wollemi Pine. Yes".

"It's extremely unusual".

A supreme understatement. Previously, we only knew about these trees from their fossilised remains. Remnants from a time when our continent was dominated by massive forest trees, the Wollemi Pine represents an ancient group of plants that first appear on the fossil record 142 million years ago. For botanists the discovery of forty adult trees was akin to finding dinosaurs alive on earth.

The actual location is a closely guarded secret. Penalties of up to $220,000 and a jail term apply to anyone entering this secret environment. But now you can see the offspring of this stunning find in a small, modest cage in the Botanic Gardens.

"John, I must admit it's something very special standing next to a plant which was thought to be a fossil only a few years ago".

"You can just imagine the comparison, can't you. If they had a prehistoric monster at the Zoo, there'd be cars from here to Murray Bridge and beyond, queuing up to have a look at it. Unfortunately animals or animate things are a bit more attractive, but this to a botanist, and to a horticulturalist and to the Botanic Gardens, this is pretty exciting. Touching something that's been alive for a hundred million years".

Seeds extracted from the cones of the Wollemi Pine have been used to propagate this specimen and another in the Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens.

"It's an amazing plant because it actually protects itself. I don't know if you can see on the top there, but it's still got this browny gung stuff that is the sort of exudate that the plant produces to protect itself from the sun. And you can see underneath the nice little green leaves that will produce the growing point".

And scientists believe that exudate, as it's called, may have cancer fighting properties. Yet more proof that Biodiversity is vital to us all.

"If you destroy it you'll never know. We've got to keep everything. Biodiversity is such a critical thing to our future".

By 2005, you'll be able to do your bit for Biodiversity, when Wollemi Pine seedlings will be made available for sale. But beware, they can grow to forty metres. A much smaller version is on show to the public in the Botanic Gardens near the Lotus Pond.

For more information you can email info@postcards-sa.com.au