The Wollemi Pine

• A "Living Fossil"
• The Araucariaceae
• Other "Living Fossils"

Purchase Information

• Buy a Wollemi Pine
• Taking Care of a Wollemi Pine

Photographs

• Gallery 1

All in the Family: Introducing the Araucariaceae

The Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis) belongs to the araucaria family (Araucariaceae), an ancient group of distinctive-looking conifers. During the age of the dinosaurs (the Mesozoic era: 230 to 65 million years ago), this family was quite diverse and occurred throughout the world. Today, it is restricted to the Southern Hemisphere (excluding Africa) and is made up of about 40 species of trees and shrubs in three genera—Agathis, Araucaria, and Wollemia.

Kauri Cone (Photograph © Daniel Luscombe)

Characteristic Cones

Members of the araucaria family can be distinguished from other conifers by their female (i.e., seed-bearing) cones, which are spherical in shape and comprised of many fully fused scales. (In contrast, cones in the pine family, Pinaceae, are typically cylindrical, with overlapping scales.) Two araucaria-family are commonly cultivated: the Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria heterophylla), from the South Pacific, and the monkey puzzle (Araucaria araucana), from South America. Other species of Araucaria and Agathis are important timber trees.

Big Brother

The largest member of the Araucariaceae is the kauri (Agathis australis), from New Zealand's North Island. This species can live to be more than 1,500 years old and grow over 150 tall and nearly 60 feet around, making it the third largest conifer after the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).