By Christine de Kock
MOVE over Tyrannosaurus Rex – the new prehistoric favourite with students at Footscray West Primary School is the wollemi pine.
The tree belongs to a 200-million-year-old plant family, and is an example of one of the world’s oldest and most rare species.
Students and parents helped plant the indigenous tree on the school grounds last week.
Principal Jeanette Fielding said the planting would be the beginning of a themed garden.
“The parents thought it was a great idea to create a dinosaur garden,” she said.
“They felt it would capture the children’s imagination.”
The wollemi pine has been given a number of nicknames, like “living fossil” and “pinosaur”.
It was discovered in 1994 in the Wollemi National Park, in NSW.
The official website stated that David Noble, a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services officer, made the discovery after abseiling into the area with friends.
The discovery created excitement and headlines around the world.
Cuttings from the original trees were propagated in Sydney’s Botanic Gardens, and cuttings from those trees were later propagated at a nursery in Queensland.
The Queensland nursery now distributes the plants across the country and the world.
Trees can cost from $55 for a six-inch plant to $550 for one of two metres.
Certificates of authentication are provided to every buyer.
All royalties from the sale of the pines go into conservation research.
Ms Fielding said other trees were planted at the school during National Tree Day.
Parent Anne Parsons said the discovery of the wollemi pine was an “amazing story of survival”.
“We also hope to remind kids that we all have a part to play in looking after the world’s biodiversity, even here in urban West Footscray.”
