Episode: 6
Title: Dwarf Mountain Pines
Broadcast: September 23rd 2017
Presenter: Nigel Ruck

Today, Nigel is at the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens, where he learns about a critically endangered pine, and the program that’s saving it from extinction.

• Pherosphaera fitzgeraldii, commonly known as the Dwarf Mountain Pine, is a very rare pine tree that typically grows no taller than 1 metre in height. It is characterised by its drooping branches and small narrow leaves.
• Nigel speaks with a ranger at the Botanic Garden, who explains that these pines are native to a very small area of New South Wales, growing only near south-facing waterfalls within the spray zone.
• They were discovered a while ago, when their numbers were already low, but now there are even less of them, and it doesn’t appear that their population is recovering.
• It is estimated that there are less than 500 Dwarf Mountain Pines left in the wild, though now, with the help of the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, they are being successfully propagated in captivity.
• At the Botanic garden, they have a great nurseryman who has had some fantastic success growing these plants, and they’ve got about 400-500 seedlings in the nursery at the moment.
• These seedlings are available for the public to purchase, so why not come down here and help keep the Dwarf Mountain Pine around for just a little longer?

The Garden Gurus
W: www.yourlifestyle.tv