Very Interesting. I'd love to see a study comparing other conical trees which don't branch as much even when planted in the open compared to shrubbier species. Having fewer branches which break off when smaller could be an advantage where snow load is a concern. Imagine Bradford Pears leafed out in late spring ice storms! Also, when grown in natural stands trees just don't leaf out like they do when planted without sun competition in our yards. I'm not debating the article's main theory btw. Just making for discussion. Obviously the Wollemi isn't kicking butt spreading itself around the world.
Great... I will start a thread about another interesting news story I found But talking about this apparent flaw in the Wollemi Pine, one could be disappointed, but all in all, it is a wonderful survivor no matter how few of them were left there in the wild.
