According to a snippet in the local capital city weekend tabloid (_The
Sunday Mail_, Brisbane, 16 Mar 2003 P.43) orders are now being
accepted for the supply of Wollemi pine plants.

Mind you, you'll have to be patient because they are not due for
release until 2005.

The joint venturers (Birkdale Nursery and the Qld Dept of Primary
Industries) won the right to produce plants some time ago and are
propagating them near Gympie in SE Queensland, operating as Wollemi
Australia.

Prospective buyers can register now to buy plants by subscribing to
the Wollemi Pine Conservation Club at www.wollemipine.com. (They
don't seem to want any money from you just now.

It's interesting to see the options for the form of "your tree":
Indoor, Patio, Ground cover, or Tree. Very versatile.




Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

In article , Iris Cohen
writes
Is it thought to be suitable for bonsai? What is special about this species?
How is it related to other pines? Does it belong to the genus Pinus? How would
you grow it indoors?

http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/html/Wollemi/Research.html
http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/conifers/ar/wo/

What's special? It's rare; it's lacking in genetic diversity; and it's
newly discovered. It's described as a living fossil, but I'd be cautious
about accepting this status.

It's a monotypic genus (Wollemia) in Araucariaceae (which also contains
Norfolk Island Pine, Kauri Pine and Monkey Puzzle, inter alia).
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Iris Cohen schreef
Is it thought to be suitable for bonsai? What is special about this
species? How is it related to other pines? Does it belong to the genus
Pinus? How would you grow it indoors?
Iris,

+ + +
If I understand the site right it offers the opportunity to vote for having
the tree converted to bonsai! So it is up to you. If all the bonsai clubs
mobilize to vote for Wollemia bonsai, there will be!

As I understand Australia, "pine" there means a coniferous tree suitable for
making masts of sailing ships. So the one requirement a conifer has to meet
to be a pine (in Australia) is size. Taxonomic relationship has no bearing
on shipbuilding qualities and thus not on names.

PvR

On 20-Mar-2003, (Iris Cohen) wrote:

Is it thought to be suitable for bonsai? What is special about this
species?
How is it related to other pines? Does it belong to the genus Pinus? How
would
you grow it indoors?
Iris,

The Wollemi Pine is in the Araucariacea along with monkey puzzle trees and
Norfollk Island Pines. It might survive indoors since it grows in narrow
canyons where only occasional flecks of light reach the ground. Whether it
would grow much indoors is another matter. Wollemia has distinct juvenile
and adult foliage so it might be interesting to see whether bonsai plants
can produce the adult foliage.
--
Bob Vickery

On 20-Mar-2003, "P van Rijckevorsel" wrote:

Iris Cohen schreef
Is it thought to be suitable for bonsai? What is special about this
species? How is it related to other pines? Does it belong to the genus
Pinus? How would you grow it indoors?
Iris,

+ + +
If I understand the site right it offers the opportunity to vote for
having
the tree converted to bonsai! So it is up to you. If all the bonsai clubs
mobilize to vote for Wollemia bonsai, there will be!

As I understand Australia, "pine" there means a coniferous tree suitable
for
making masts of sailing ships. So the one requirement a conifer has to
meet
to be a pine (in Australia) is size. Taxonomic relationship has no bearing
on shipbuilding qualities and thus not on names.

PvR

One reason for the British settlement in Australia was to provide stores for
the navy using Norfolk Island Pines for masts and New Zealand flax (Phormium
tenax) for sails and ropes. The Norfold Island Pines, it turned out, were
too weak for masts and the New Zealand Flax industry never came to anything.
These were the first of a long series of failed primary industries.
--
Bob Vickery

In article , "P van Rijckevorsel" wrote:
Iris Cohen schreef
Is it thought to be suitable for bonsai? What is special about this
species? How is it related to other pines? Does it belong to the genus
Pinus? How would you grow it indoors?
Iris,

+ + +
If I understand the site right it offers the opportunity to vote for having
the tree converted to bonsai! So it is up to you. If all the bonsai clubs
mobilize to vote for Wollemia bonsai, there will be!

As I understand Australia, "pine" there means a coniferous tree suitable for
making masts of sailing ships. So the one requirement a conifer has to meet
to be a pine (in Australia) is size. Taxonomic relationship has no bearing
on shipbuilding qualities and thus not on names.

Actually, "pine" is fast coming to mean about the only retail timber
generally available here; and then it comes in eight foot lengths made
up of many random length short sections glued together. And, I
suspect, is largely imported. :-(


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

In article ,
(Iris Cohen) wrote:
Is it thought to be suitable for bonsai? What is special about this species?
How is it related to other pines? Does it belong to the genus Pinus? How would
you grow it indoors?

I see several others have responded to your query, Iris.

I can only add that there is a fair bit of info on the site I quoted
http://www.wollemipine.com/ once you "enter" it. In particular, the
"About" tag actually gives you some info under three headings --
unlike most "abouts" which just tell you how good the org is.

The "Photo Gallery" tag has a number of photos taken in the wild and
of plants in pots.

The "How to get one" tag takes you to a form to join the Wollemi Pine
Conservation Club which will keep you abreast of developments and
would probably answer some of your questions if they have some sort of
discussion group running.

If you want to grow one to maturity indoors, you'll need a fairly
large house as they can grow to 40 metres tall with a trunk about 1.2
metres in diameter.

Under the "About/Fast Facts" tag you'll find under the "Best use"
heading the statement:
quoting
Feature plant for parks and large gardens, a stunning indoor plant,
and unique gift for special occasions
/quoting


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID

How soon before they are being offered at every Lowes and Home Depot across
America?

It will become the biggest thing since the "Norfolk Island Pine"!!!!!

Just you wait and see.


Iris Cohen wrote in message
...
Wollemia has distinct juvenile and adult foliage so it might be
interesting
to see whether bonsai plants can produce the adult foliage.

In the Cupressaceae, conifer bonsai such as juniper can be persuaded to
produce
adult foliage with appropriate culture. Severe pruning is more likely to
stumulate juvenile foliage. I have a J. squamata bonsai which, following
its
winter rest, produced juvenile needles in late winter and spring under
lights,
and adult scale foliage in summer & fall outdoors.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)