Some of these trees can be over 30 metres high. Others, can live for centuries or, for the Huon pine, up to an astonishing ten millennia.

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/709116

  • Southern conifers, found in Australia, South America, New Zealand, and New Caledonia, may not actually be true conifers and could be more closely related to flowering plants.
  • Conifers are gymnosperms with naked seeds and cones.
  • Southern conifers evolved from southern seed ferns and have broad leaves compared to the needle-like leaves of northern conifers.
  • Some southern conifers, such as Araucaria and Agathis species, have cones.
  • The Wollemi pine, a species of southern conifer, is considered a “living fossil” and appeared around 200 million years ago.