Saturday, January 28, 2012

So it turned out that the Wollemi Pine official US site had been part of the bigger program, and then was discontinued as part of the official site.  The company had limited inventory, and was unable to import more to sell.  Many of the nurseries were having some technical issues with certifications, quarantine, and import/export glitches.  There was also the issue of all sales of Wollemi Pine being generated by the official program so that they could continue to afford to produce more trees.


I didn’t know it at the time, but the Wollemi Pine exports from Australia to the US had been suspended.   There were a number of reasons, a lot of them having to do with bugs and blights creating havoc in several Southern Hemisphere countries.  The hitchhikers were having devastating effects on local crops and forests of various South Pacific and area countries.  The US does not allow devastating hitchhikers. 
Crop insect infestations and various fungal and bacterial blights can be nearly impossible to get rid if once they get a foothold in a new environment.  Without natural predators, they reproduce unchecked and can quickly overtake a forest or field.
Any new exports would have to undergo lengthy quarantine in phyto-certified, clean conditions.  The new issues and subsequent regulations did not just affect Wollemi Pine, but many other pine species, and some non pines that had equal opportunity to be infected.
As far as I can figure out, the US distributor was reported to have gone bankrupt.  Online research gave various scenarios, part of which had to do with law suits when the name had been trademarked, and use of it became an offense.  Arboretums displaying the tree under the trademark came under fire, even though it was legally purchased from the Wollemi Pine Conservation group.
With exports from Australia suspended, the search switched gears and looked toward other sources, first in the US, and then from overseas.

Photo: new growth tip at the end of a young branch.  Note the leaves are still in spiral formation.


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