Jurassic Plants Make A Comeback

Makarand writes "BBC News is reporting that saplings of the Wollemi Pine will go on sale by the end of 2005. This is the only plant survivor from the Jurassic age. After it was discovered in 1994 in a single Australian grove, the tree's home has been kept a top secret. Research to find the best way to grow the plants on a commercial scale has now paid off and the pines are set for a return. As they grow slowly and like low-light conditions they will be marketed as indoor plants." This looks like an interesting addition to any home, even if the article's title is a bit of a misnomer.

Comments

eh?

[wiggys]

This is the only plant survivor from the Jurassic age.

Eh? Surely ALL plants we see around us today are survivors from the Jurassic age. Sure, they are descendants, but so is the Wollemi Pine.

The only plant survivor?

[Max Romantschuk]

How do we know this is the only plant species to survive? What are the criteria? DNA mutates all the time, so how is this plant different?

Re:The only plant survivor?

[axolotl_farmer]

What is remarkable about this tree is not its age, but that it is a recently discovered species only known from a few specimens. This species could not be placed within any of the described groups within Auracariacacae, so it has been placed in a new genus, Wollemia.

The Auracariacae are a group of conifers, just like pine trees and spruces. The best known is the monkey puzzle tree grown in temperate regions all over the world.Conifers are hard to clone, i.e. it's difficult to make the cuttings grow a root system.

There is an untapped geek factor in plants. Here's a chance to own a clone of a very rare species of a strange tree. As a biologist, it sound pretty cool to me!

Well adapted...

[hughk]

First, this has been around for a while and a sapling is on display at the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Yes, the announcement is pure PR for the company developing the technqiues, but the plant did cause a stir when it was first discovered. It was literally a living fossil, as that was how it was first seen.

Everything mutates, but the fittest survives. If the fittest is already well adapted then any mutation must be radical to offer an improvment - or conditions need to change so that the plant/creature is no longer competitive in its ecological niche.

However it isn't necessarily unique. We have also seen the same over shorter periods of time for animals. Think of the coelacanth, for example.