As I wander around Cambridge University Botanic Garden, a tree called the Wollemi pine often catches my eye. It’s one of our rarest trees, and a distinctive looking pine, with broad needles and bark that reminds you of coco pops.
First discovered in 1994 in a ravine in the Wollemi National Park in western Australia, only a few hundred survive in the wild. Although it has been on planet earth for hundreds of thousands of years, it is close to extinction. This tree species, like many others, represents a paradox: a rare and threatened species thriving in cultivation while its wild counterparts are just about hanging on to existence.
As a curator of one of the world’s largest university botanic gardens, I often talk about the power of living collections. I also recognise their limits. The world’s botanic gardens hold an extraordinary diversity of plants. But, they are struggling to keep up with the accelerating biodiversity extinction crisis.
