10月23日，澳大利亚将拍卖一批珍稀的瓦勒迈杉树苗。瓦勒迈杉最早出现在侏罗纪时代，曾是恐龙的食物，它被称为是“植物界的活化石”。

    据英国《每日电讯》10月22日报道，世界拍卖行巨头索思比将拍卖300株高2.7米、树龄为6年的瓦勒迈杉树苗。每株树苗的起拍价为600英镑，拍卖所得将全部用于对瓦勒迈杉的保护工作。拍卖方要求买者必须拥有一个足够大的花园，因为瓦勒迈杉最高可长到36米，直径则会超过0.9米。

    索思比澳大利亚拍卖行主席贾斯汀·米勒透露说：“瓦勒迈杉在植物界的地位如同动物界中的熊猫，它非常稀有，所以已经引起了人们的极大兴趣。在侏罗纪时代，恐龙就以瓦勒迈杉的树叶为食。”

    1994年，一种奇特松树在澳大利亚的蓝岭地区被发现。后经证实，这不足100株的成年松树是被认为在200万年前灭绝了的瓦勒迈杉。植物学家指出，瓦勒迈杉与恐龙同时出现在侏罗纪时代，它存活至今被视为近代历史中植物界最重要的一项发现。瓦勒迈杉是继中国水杉之后被发现的第2种植物活化石。

    此次将被拍卖的300株瓦勒迈杉树苗是被秘密栽培的第一代瓦勒迈杉树苗。为了防止不法分子的盗伐，这些瓦勒迈杉的具体生长地点处于高度保密状态。

    Saplings of a species of tree that dinosaurs once grazed upon go on sale to the public in Australia tomorrow.

    The auction by Sotheby's of Australia of 300 trees, six years old and about 9ft tall, has attracted great interest at home and abroad.

    In 1994 a wildlife ranger, David Noble, who was climbing in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, found a grove of trees thought to have been extinct for millions of years.

    The Wollemi pines had survived 17 ice ages and were the last remnant of forests that blanketed much of the ancient continent of Gondwanaland.

    The "pinosaur" saplings have been grown from cuttings taken from the pines, of which fewer than 100 survive in a remote canyon in the Wollemi national park. Their location is a closely guarded secret for fear of theft or the introduction of disease.

    Justin Miller, the chairman of Sotheby's in Australia, said there had been great interest from British landowners.

    "Wollemi pines are the pandas of the plant world," he said. "They are very rare and they have captured the public imagination. To find a grove of 100ft tall trees which have survived millions of years was extraordinary. They were grazed on by dinosaurs."

    The young trees were propagated in a joint venture between a nursery and the Queensland government. Bidding will start at ?600. The money will be used to conserve the species.