![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Brits-Pamela-and-Alistair-Thompson-with-their-Wollemi-pine-tree-SWNS-montage-1024x549.jpg\")
Pamela and Alistair Thompson with their Wollemi pine tree \u2013SWNS<\/p>\n Pamela and Alistair Thompson with their Wollemi pine tree \u2013SWNS<\/p>\n
One of the world\u2019s rarest trees\u2014a prehistoric species that dinosaurs used to snack on\u2014is bearing fruit for the first time after a retired couple planted it in their garden years ago.<\/p>\n
Wollemi pines \u2013 dubbed dinosaur trees \u2013 date back more than 90 million years and were thought to have died out with T-Rex, but a cluster of the prehistoric conifers was discovered in 1994, in a steep-sided gorge 125 miles west of Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n
Saplings and cuttings were sold to help save the critically endangered species\u2014and one was planted at the foot of the Malvern Hills in England by retired couple Pamela and Alistair Thompson.<\/p>\n
The couple paid $93 (\u00a370) for an 18-inch sapling, which a friend had picked up for her in 2010, and they planted it in their garden in Malvern, Worcestershire. Now, after years of loving care it stands more than 13-feet tall (4 meters).<\/p>\n
Pamela was stunned this spring to discover the rare tree bearing fruit for the first time.<\/p>\n
The 75-year-old now hopes the evergreen, which is not a pine, despite its common name, can be propagated to produce seeds which can be used to grow more of the genus Wollemia nobilis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be amazing, absolutely amazing, to have seedlings and to propagate from the world\u2019s rarest tree.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t imagine being so lucky to do it.<\/p>\n
TREE ENVY:<\/strong> Man Cultivates a Giant Mango Tree with Each Branch Growing a Different Variety of Fruit\u2013and There Are 300<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI saw a small tree for sale for more than $1,000 which shows just how rare they are.\u201d<\/p>\n Wollemi pines are related to monkey puzzle trees and bear both male and female fruit. The long pendulous fruits are actually the male cone and the globular spiky fruits are the female cones.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what we\u2019re really hoping later in the year would be to collect and germinate some of the seeds from it.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would be really something.\u201d<\/p>\n CHECK OUT THIS FROM LAST YEAR<\/strong>: Dinosaur Evergreens Thought Extinct for 2Mil Years Discovered by Park Ranger\u2013the Grove is the \u2018Find of the Century\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Pamela-and-Alistair-Thompson-with-Wollemi-pine-tree-in-their-English-garden-SWNS-montage.jpg\")
Pamela and Alistair Thompson with Wollemi pine tree in their English garden \u2013 SWNS<\/p>\n