Deep in the ancient rainforests of Far North Queensland grows one of Australia’s most extraordinary trees, Idiospermum australiense. Known by many as the “Green Dinosaur”, this rare rainforest species is regarded as a living relic from the age of Gondwana. With its ancient lineage and highly restricted natural range, every new generation of these trees carries a sense of wonder.
Kelvin and Kristopher with the Idiospermum.
Now, a remarkable discovery in northern New South Wales may represent a small but significant moment in the story of this ancient species.
More than 30 years ago, a young rainforest enthusiast named Kristopher Kupsch travelled from Burringbar in northern New South Wales to the Daintree Rainforest. He was only 15 years old at the time, but already deeply fascinated by rainforest ecology. During his visit to Diwan in the Daintree lowlands, Kristopher undertook a comparative study between tropical and subtropical rainforest ecosystems, an experience that would shape his lifelong passion for rainforest trees.
Returning home inspired, Kristopher and a friend established an arboretum dedicated to North Queensland rainforest species at Burringbar, located 45 km south of the New South Wales and Queensland border. Over the years, they planted an extraordinary collection of tropical trees, carefully nurturing species rarely seen so far south.
Among them was Idiospermum australiense.
Kristopher made many trips to Far North Queensland, obtained a permit and collected the Idiospermum seeds from a road reserve where they were being destroyed by the council maintenance program.
The Idiospermum thriving in New South Wales.
At the time, few could have imagined what those small planted trees might one day become.
Recently, Kelvin Davies, Founder of Gondwana Rainforest Trust, visited Kristopher and toured the arboretum. Walking beneath the now towering rainforest canopy, Kristopher reflected that the Idiospermum trees were probably more than 30 years old and may have begun flowering.
Then came the moment neither expected. Beneath one of the mature trees, nestled in the leaf litter, was a seedling emerging directly from a large Idiospermum seed.
A second-generation green dinosaur.
For a species so ancient, rare and geographically restricted, this simple discovery felt extraordinary. The seedling had not been propagated in a nursery or planted by human hands. It had fallen to the ground and germinated naturally beneath a tree grown from seed collected decades earlier from the Wet Tropics.
Carefully lifting the young seedling from the soil, Kristopher Kupsch handed it to Kelvin Davies. Soon, it will be planted within a new rainforest arboretum being established by Gondwana Rainforest Trust.
Could this be the first New South Wales–germinated Green Dinosaur?
The significance goes beyond novelty. Idiospermum australiense is one of Australia’s most scientifically important rainforest trees. When it was formally described in 1972, botanists were astonished by its primitive characteristics. The species is so distinct that it occupies its own ancient plant family, with evolutionary links stretching back tens of millions of years to the forests of Gondwana.
In the wild, the tree naturally occurs only in a small part of the Daintree and surrounding Wet Tropics rainforest. Seeing it not only survive, but reproduce naturally hundreds of kilometres south of its native range, is a testament to both the dedication of passionate rainforest custodians and the resilience of ancient life itself.
The Idiospermum planted by Kristopher 30 years ago.
The discovery also tells a deeper story about connection across generations.
A teenager visits the Daintree and becomes inspired by ancient rainforest ecosystems. He plants trees in an arboretum in northern New South Wales. Decades later, those trees mature, flower and produce a new generation. Another rainforest advocate visits, and together they discover a seedling quietly emerging from the soil after years of patience and care.
It is a reminder that conservation is often measured not in months or years, but in decades.
And sometimes, if we are fortunate, the rainforest answers back.
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Kristopher Kupsch is one of Australia's most skilled field botanists and has undertaken dozens of surveys for Gondwana Rainforest Trust on properties now purchased and managed for conservation. We are grateful to have one of Australia's most skilled field botanists supporting the purchase, protection and restoration of our precious rainforests.