Ancient Conifers and other amazing endemic Tasmanian flora
Tasmania is not only home to the oldest living trees in Australia, it also has many weird and wonderful plants that are endemic to this cool, windy wet island - below are some portraits of a few of them
Above and below - A Pencil Pine Athrotaxis cupressoides, in the Walls of Jerusalem NP - These trees live at over 1200m above sea level and the annual growth rate is extremely slow, so trees such as this are likely over 1000 years old.
Above: An ancient King Billy Pine Athrotaxis selaginoides, near New Pelion Hut on the Overland Track
Below: A group of King Billy Pines on the way to Frenchmans Cap
Below: A group of King Billy Pines on the way to Frenchmans Cap
Above: A remarkable, ancient Huon Pine, Lagarostrobos franklinii, growing horizontally out from the bank of the Lake Vera at about 600m a.sl. in the Frenchmans Cap NP
Above and below: A remarkable grove of Huon Pines growing along a tributary of the Picton River
A King Billy Pine growing on the shores of Lake Hartz in the Hartz NP
Above and below: The extraordinary 'Octopine', a multi-stemmed Pencil Pine growing in 'Dixon's Kingdom' - possibly the largest grove of Pencil Pines left in Tasmania.
Above: A very old, multi-trunked Pencil Pine growing near Tarn Shelf in the Mt Field NP
Above and below: Known locally as 'Fagus' or 'Tanglefoot', Nothofagus gunni is Australia's only cool climate deciduous tree - in leaf above and below in bud in early October.
Above: In early October, looking across Robert Tarn on Tarn Shelf, Mt Field NP. The clearly identifiable patches of light grey are groves of Nothofagus gunni in its deciduous phase. Punctuated with the occasional green triangle of a Pencil Pine.
Above and below: Cushion plant colonies grow in tight mounds, as a protective device against the extreme cold and wind experienced in the high alpine moors. The mountain in the background is Florentine Peak.
Above and close up below: Abrotanella forsteroides, growing near the summit of Tasmania's tallest mountain, Mt Ossa
Above: The world's smallest eucalypt: Eucalyptus vernicosa - here growing on a rocky shelf on the Southern Range and fully mature at 20cm tall!
Above: Constantly blasted by the south westerly winds this Creeping Geebung, Persoonia moscalii, is hugging the rock for survival
Orites milliganii - forming a natural bonsai on the shore of Lake Cygnus, Western Arthur Range
Pandani, Richea pandanifolia, on the way up The Acropolis - 'Pandani' is actually a giant member of the heath family of plants and is a common sight in the alpine regions of the south and west.
