Wollemia

Wollemia Temporal range: Jurassic to recent 200–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Young specimen in a botanical garden protected from theft by a steel cage
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Araucariaceae
Genus:	Wollemia W.G.Jones, K.D.Hill & J.M.Allen
Species:	W. nobilis
Binomial name
Wollemia nobilis W.G.Jones, K.D.Hill & J.M.Allen, 1995

Wollemia is a genus of coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae. It is a "living fossil", recently found in 1994. Its fossil record dates back 200 million years, and it was thought to be long extinct.

Wollemia nobilis was discovered in 1994 in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park in New South Wales. in a remote series of narrow, steep-sided sandstone gorges near Lithgow, 150 kilometres north-west of Sydney.

In both botanical and popular literature the tree has been called the Wollemi Pine. It is not a true pine (genus Pinus) nor a member of the pine family (Pinaceae), but is related to Agathis and Araucaria in the family Araucariaceae.

The Wollemi pine is classified as Critically Endangered (CR – D) on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List 2002. It is legally protected in Australia. A Recovery Plan has been drawn up, outlining strategies for the management of this fragile population; the overall objective is to ensure that this species remains viable in the long-term.

Wollemia nobilis – young cone