The Wollemi pine is one of the most remarkable botanical discoveries of the 20th century - a tree once thought extinct for millions of years, found surviving hidden away in deep sandstone gorges in Australia. It's a genuine living fossil that today can be admired not only in the wild, but also in botanic gardens across the globe.

The natural population grows in a remote wilderness area of Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, tucked into narrow, steep-sided sandstone gorges within a temperate rainforest. Its distinctive dark brown, knobbly bark, often compared to breakfast cereal, along with its unusual branching pattern, make it unlike any other conifer. The exact location of the wild grove remains a closely guarded secret to protect it from disease and disturbance.

• The precise location of the wild population in Wollemi National Park is kept undisclosed and is not accessible to visitors - the site is strictly protected
• Cultivated Wollemi pines can instead be seen at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney and in numerous botanic gardens worldwide

• Classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List and legally protected in Australia
• Fewer than 60 adult trees are known to survive in the wild, across four locations
• Trees can reach 25-40 m in height, with the oldest specimens estimated at 500-1,000 years old
• Thanks to a cloning programme, saplings are now commercially available to gardeners around the world

All known wild specimens are genetically identical, suggesting the species passed through a genetic bottleneck 10,000-26,000 years ago, when it may have been reduced to just one or two surviving individuals.