Wollemi Pine - profile

Indicative distribution

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Key:

known

predicted

The areas shown in pink and/purple are the sub-regions where the species or community is known or predicted to occur. They may not occur thoughout the sub-region but may be restricted to certain areas. ( click here to see geographic restrictions). The information presented in this map is only indicative and may contain errors and omissions.

Scientific name: Wollemia nobilis

Conservation status in NSW: Critically Endangered

Commonwealth status: Critically Endangered

Gazetted date: 02 Oct 2015

Profile last updated: 08 Apr 2026

Description

An emergent rainforest tree up to 40 m tall, typically multi-stemmed, and with distinctive fern-like foliage and red-brown bubbly bark. Branches are arranged in successive whorls along the stem, with leaves in two opposite rows on juvenile branches and four rows on mature branches. Elongated pollen cones (male) and spherical seed cones (female) are produced on the ends of upper branches on the same tree. Seeds are light brown, flattened and winged.

Distribution

Restricted to remote canyons in Wollemi National Park, north-west of Sydney.

Habitat and ecology

Occurs in warm temperate rainforest and rainforest margins in deep sandstone canyons.
Reproduces vegetatively via self-coppicing and sexually via seedling recruitment.
Individual trunks can live for over 500 years and may be replaced when they fall.
Cone production occurs above the rainforest canopy, with female cones signalling maturity.
Seeds are short-lived (< 1 year) and dispersed locally by wind and gravity.
Seedlings and juveniles are slow-growing and slow to mature, with limited resistance to fire.
Low-level genetic variation has been detected within and between stands.
Research on the species’ ecology and conservation, including its breeding system, population dynamics, tolerable fire regimes, and translocation, is ongoing.

Threats

Disturbance from unauthorised visitation of the wild population, resulting in damage to the species and its habitat through trampling, soil compaction and erosion, introduction of weeds and spread of existing pathogens.
The pathogenicity of Phytophthora species to Wollemi Pine has been demonstrated. Spread of these pathogens, and introduction of novel pathogens, pose a significant threat to the species.
Frequent and severe fire resulting in mortality of established plants and preventing population recovery and recruitment, leading to population declines and increasing the risk of extinction.
The small population size and geographic distribution, coupled with ongoing recruitment failure, render the species extremely susceptible to demographic and environmental stochasticity and increase its risk of extinction.
Infestation of populations by blackberry and other invasive perennial weeds.
Feral herbivores, including pigs, goats and deer pose numerous threats to the species, including soil compaction and erosion, trampling and herbivory of seedlings and small juveniles and introduction and spread of pathogens and weeds.
Anthropogenic climate change (particularly, climatic warming and extreme weather events such as heatwaves and drought).

Recovery strategies

A targeted strategy for managing this species has been developed under the Saving Our Species program; click here for details. For more information on the Saving Our Species program click here

Activities to assist this species

Protect the wild population from unauthorised visitation.
Manage fire, pests, weeds and diseases affecting the wild population.
Conduct monitoring to support management and conservation of the species and its habitat.
Survey potential habitat to locate any undiscovered populations.
Establish additional wild populations via translocation to reduce the risk of extinction.
Undertake research on the species' ecology and population dynamics.
Maintain representative ex situ collections and seed banks within botanic gardens.
Foster public awareness and support for the conservation program.

Information sources

Jones WG, Hill KD, and Allen JM (1995) Wollemia nobilis, a new living Australian genus and species in the Araucariaceae. Telopea 6, 173-176. https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/emuwebnswlive/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=75830&reftable=ebibliography
Mackenzie BDE, Clarke SW, Zimmer HC, Liew ECY, Phelan MT, Offord CA, Menke LK, Crust DW, Bragg J, McPherson H, Rossetto M, Coote DM, Yap J-YS, and Auld TD (2021) Ecology and conservation of a living fossil: Australia’s Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis). In: Imperiled: The Encyclopedia of Conservation (eds D DellaSala, M Goldstein). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821139-7.00188-4
Wollemi Pine Recovery (2025) National Recovery Plan for the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis), Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Canberra, CC BY 4.0. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/publications/recovery/wollemi-pine