Wollemi pine / thanks

[Albertine C. Ellis - Adam]

Dear colleagues,
        many thanks to everybody who replied on my request on the Wollemi pine.

Ken Hill announced the publication of the description within some weeks.

I did not only get messages by Internet:

        A friend told me that he had seen the tree on television and that
it was very beautiful.

       I have been given a newspaper clipping with the title "Jurassic
Bark" by a PhD student from our institute who recently visited Australia
(regrettably without date and name of the journal) from which I quote:

"The trees stand 40 metre tall and are highly sought after: intruders in
the gorge have already trampled one seedling, forcing the National Parks
Office to institute random checks on the site to prevent further
destruction. Entering the gorge at all is now prohibited, as fungal spores
on walker's boots could harm the seedlings.
Don't try to find the place: the penalty is up to 5 years in prison and an
unlimited fine (a tougher sentence than for human rape!). It seems the best
way to safeguard the trees' future is to breed and sell them as quickly and
widely as possible, so we can expect to find little Wollemis sprouting in
backyards all over the country before long."

The propagation is undertaken, but we will have to exert some patience
before we can get specimens for our backyards, I understood.

Kind regards, Albertine

 *  Albertine C. Ellis - Adam                            *
 o  University of Amsterdam                              o
 *  Hugo de Vries Laboratorium                           *
 o  Kruislaan 318 / 1098 SM Amsterdam                    o
 *  Phone: xx (0)20 5257822 / Fax: xx (0)20 5257662      *