By region
[TO WRITE: frost, wind and rainfall notes for Northland through Southland, from NZ growers' experience.]
Regional guideWollemia nobilis · Aotearoa New Zealand
Kauri's lost cousin, growing in New Zealand.
The Wollemi pine was known only from fossils until living trees were found in an Australian canyon in 1994. This is a New Zealand guide to what it is, how it grows here, and where you can stand next to one.
~200 million years
Age of the oldest fossils linked to its lineage.
1994
Found alive in Wollemi National Park, New South Wales.
2013
New Zealand's first, planted at Christchurch Botanic Gardens (NZ Tree Register).
The tree
A conifer everyone thought was extinct.
In 1994 a New South Wales parks ranger, David Noble, abseiled into a remote sandstone canyon and found a stand of trees no botanist could name. They turned out to be a third living branch of the Araucariaceae, the family that also holds New Zealand's kauri and the Norfolk Island pine.
Fewer than a hundred mature trees are known in the wild and the site is kept secret. Growing it in gardens around the world is part of the plan to keep the species alive.
- Species
- Wollemia nobilis
- Family
- Araucariaceae
- NZ relative
- Kauri (Agathis australis)
- Native to
- Wollemi National Park, NSW
- Wild status
- Critically Endangered
- Known for
- Knobbly, bubbled dark bark
Growing in NZ Written for our
Written for our
climate, not Sydney's.
Most care advice online assumes Australian or British conditions. These guides are organised around New Zealand regions and seasons.
Pot or ground
[TO WRITE: container size, potting mix, drainage, when to plant out, and how big it gets.]
Planting guideWhen it sulks
[TO WRITE: browning tips, root problems, pests and other common questions, with photos.]
TroubleshootingSee one The New Zealand
The New Zealand
specimen register.
A running list of Wollemi pines in public gardens and parks around the country. Know of one that's missing? Send it in.
Christchurch Botanic Gardens Christchurch, Canterbury Planted 2013 · first in NZ
[SPECIMEN LOCATION] [TOWN, REGION] [YEAR PLANTED]
[SPECIMEN LOCATION] [TOWN, REGION] [YEAR PLANTED]
Find a nursery
We don't sell trees. We point you to people who do.
This site has no shop and takes no commission. The list links to New Zealand nurseries that stock legitimately propagated Wollemi pines.
- [NURSERY NAME] [REGION · WEBSITE]
- [NURSERY NAME] [REGION · WEBSITE]
- [NURSERY NAME] [REGION · WEBSITE]
About this site
Independent, non-commercial, and made in New Zealand.
Wollemi Pine NZ is a personal project by [YOUR NAME]. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or licensed by Wollemi Australia Pty Ltd, the Botanic Gardens of Sydney, or any nursery. For the official conservation and licensing programme, visit wollemipine.com.