IT IS one of the oldest and rarest 鈥� and now officially one of the most expensive 鈥� trees in the world. An auction of 292 Wollemi pines in Sydney, Australia, raised A$1.59 million (US$1.2 million), which will help conserve the trees, their habitat and other rare plants.
A single stand of the Jurassic-era trees was discovered in a gorge in New South Wales in 1994, and in 1998 a team of botanists put a conservation plan into action (New 杏吧原创, 22 October, p 43). By keeping the location secret, but propagating the trees and selling them, they hoped to protect the stand from plant hunters while also raising funds for conservation.
The 148 鈥渃ollector鈥檚 edition鈥� lots auctioned by Sotheby鈥檚 on Sunday ranged from single trees to an avenue of 20. One unidentified bidder paid A$115,000, more than twice the guide price, for a set including a tree propagated from each of the 15 wild trees from which cuttings were taken. Single trees sold for between A$2000 and A$7000.
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If you want your own 鈥減inosaur鈥�, you won鈥檛 have to wait long 鈥� another 500,000 trees are set to go on sale from April 2006.
