Wollemia nobilis Wollemi pine

Discovered deep in the Blue Mountains near Sydney by hikers in 1994, and with only about a hundred individuals surviving in a few remote canyon gorges, its precise location is kept secret. Pathogens carried on the unsterilized shoes of interlopers have killed some trees. The groves were actively protected by firefighters during the widespread bushfires of 2019–2020.

Three were planted in 2007 at the Meyer-Buck House, along the path west of the great lawn. Two remain: one, 9 feet tall, with both male and female cones, and planted near a large casuarina; the other, 7 feet tall, with male cones.

Branches arising from the trunk produce no further branching, unlike other araucarians, lending the tree’s columnar profile a singular grace, though perhaps at some competitive disadvantage among taller neighbors. Fortunately this remarkable conifer is now propagated on several continents and may be seen in botanical gardens, including those in the Bay Area.