A bid to save one of Australia’s “rarest and most critically endangered plants” has received a boost through a donation program.

This September, the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) issued a call asking people to donate their potted Wollemi pines.

The latest conservation action plan from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) reveals they are found only in Wollemi National Park.

They were thought extinct before being discovered in 1994.

However, the wild population is small, with only 46 adult and 43 juvenile plants remaining.

ANBG director Dr Matthew Parker said the garden wanted to add to its existing stock of the plant.

“Often we’re unable to accept donations because there can be a biosecurity risk if we don’t know the history of the plant and where it comes from,” Dr Parker told Region.

“For the Wollemi pine, their significance is one that we do make an exception for … We decided that we would put the call out to see if anyone had some that they were willing to donate [to] augment a few locations within our display areas.”

The public call was answered by about 10 gardeners, with the ANBG working on transport for the special specimens.

While gardeners as far away as Perth volunteered to donate their plants, Dr Parker said the search was focused closer to home.

“We wanted plants that have been growing in this environment and are accustomed to the Canberra environment,” he said.

“Bringing them in from further afield just adds in another element of stress that the plant needs to adapt to.”

Dr Parker said ANBG staff were speaking with current Wollemi pine owners about the best way to move the plants to their new homes.

“They’ve got to figure out how to get these large plants out of people’s properties or courtyards or wherever they may be, and get them onto one of our trucks to bring them here,” he said.

“They will most likely be repotted.”

Once they arrive on ANBG grounds, the donated Wollemi pines are set to be replanted around the visitor centre and in the Gondwana collection.

Staff would look after them, Dr Parker said, with the donations joining the existing array of plants.

“Botanic gardens form part of a network for plant conservation … They’re not necessarily about conserving the natural habitat,” he said.

“It’s also about growing ex-situ collections away from their natural site [of where the plants grow].”

It means they can serve as a back-up if something happens to the main population in the wild.

For Dr Parker, it’s a “very rewarding” effort to help boost the number of Wollemi pines — even if no further donation rounds are planned yet.

“We could go to Bunnings and buy some [plants], but I guess we’re often approached by people to donate this particular species.

“It’s really an opportunity to help people out who are no longer able to look after them themselves, or they’ve outgrown them. It’s a win-win.”

The Australian National Botanic Gardens are in Clunies Ross Street, Acton.