​Australia a land where ancient species still grow.

​
I use the word ancient very loosely because its difficult to actually define what ancient means in relation to our continent. I am lost for words, in fact I don’t know! When I start delving back in the history of our land, I get lost in a labyrinth of continents, supercontinents, and eras tagged with almost unpronounceable names. I started out looking at some of the continuously living organisms in Australia and got side tracked but back to the topic, but I really do mean continuously living organisms.
Whilst in Tasmania, we travelled through forests which are home to some of the oldest trees in Australia. The Huon pine in the south west coast range are all male (Huon pines can be male or female) and are genetically identical. Some individual trees are believed to be over 1500 years old. Ancient pollen samples suggest that this clonal organism has continuously inhabited the region for at least 10,000 years.
Even more fascinating is Lomatia tasmanica a member of the proteaceae family. It is sterile and thus clonal like the Huon pine. In fact leaf fossils found in the south west date the species back over 40,000 years. Given the species is a clone it is possibly the oldest continuously living plant in the world.
Both these species reproduce vegetatively, ie., from the roots of old plants or from fallen branches which have then grown roots. We saw many examples of such reproduction in the dense wet forests of Tassie.

The Derby Prison tree. This is one of  many larrkardiy around Derby which are believed to be imbued with special mystical forces. 

Talking old trees leap to the far north west corner of Australia where Boab trees, believed to be related to the African species, have been been evolving in Australia for around 200 million years. They dot the landscape on plains, hills and gorges from Timber Creek in Northern Territory to the west coast. Some trees are believed to be hundreds of years old and a few trees at least a thousand or more years old. They are revered by local aboriginal communities.

The trees are said to flower for one night and are pollinated by the hawk moth and other insects attracted by their nectar. The flesh and seeds of the fruit whilst not all that palatable (to me) have many uses - the seeds were ground to make ‘flour’, steeped to make a drink, rich in Vitamin C they have had important dietary application explorer Augustus Gregory used the fruit to treat scurvy amongst his travelling companions.

The fruit of the Boab.  The seeds, ngibi, were used for food and medicine. They taste a little like almonds.

And then there are stromatolites whose origins date back billions of years to that time when photosynthesis and oxygen were dawning. These are cyanobacteria In WA they thrive in geothermally heated waters with high saline levels (which protect the organisms). The species found in Hamlin Pool differs from those growing in Lake Thetis which according to local aboriginal dreaming are the eggs of Wagyl, the Rainbow Serpent.

Seen through the water, some stromatolites give of bubbles of oxygen. 3 Billion years ago these amazing organisms produced atmospheric oxygen for subsequent oxygen-dependent life.

Stromatolites are extremely rare and are only found in a few localities around the world including Australia where there are both living colonies as well as one of the largest deposits of fossilised stromatolites in the world. But recently a new colony has been found in wetlands of Tasmania's south west wilderness. These wetlands are not saline or geothermally heated like other stromatolite habitats. That’s a subject for another time once I learn more of this new discovery. You can read more about this startling discovery here http://www.media.utas.edu.au/general-news/all-news/ancient-life-form-discovered-in-remote-tasmanian-valley
So much to know. It would take many life times to scratch the surface.