New Zealand’s first Wollemi pine was planted in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens in 2013 (see CR/1121). The story of the discovery west of Sydney of this close relative of the kauri is well known, and Christchurch Botanic Gardens now has further plantings of the pine. Less well known is the story of the single tree in the Ashburton Domain and Gardens. First planted in April 2014 (see photo of plaque), the Ashburton District Council unfortunately did not follow the Christchurch example and plant the rare tree within a sturdy cage, and it was stolen in 2018. Fortunately, the council was able to source another, and this time, as the photos show, it was planted within a cage built by a local engineering company. A photo shows the replacement pine was about 1.5 metres tall when replanted [1], explaining its current height of just over 2 metres. The now protected specimen looks extremely healthy within its cage. Within a few years the cage will have to be removed – hopefully a larger tree will not be stolen for a second time (Lloyd, M., 2024).

Reference
1. ‘Special protection for Willemia (sic) pine’, Ashburton District Council media release, 18 May 2020.