baumzaehlen - Primeval Forests & Their Trees

©2017 copyright christoph hase

Reynold Falls Nature Recreation Area, Tasmania, Australia

A short trail, the “King Billy Track”, leads to the tallest measured Opens internal link in current window Athrotaxis selaginoides (King Billy pine). It is 38 metres in height 1 . Although the forest is located next to a busy tourist centre it seems to be in relatively natural condition though there has clearly been some A. selaginoides logging before the protection of the area. The forest lies at an altitude of 850-900 metres. The dominants of the canopy, which is at about 30 metres, are Opens internal link in current window Nothofagus cunninghamii (myrtle beech) and Opens internal link in current window Atherosperma moschatum (southern sassafras). Tree species diversity is low and tree identification easy. Undergrowth is very sparse.

References:

1 Forestry Tasmania. E-mail (2010).

Nothofagus cunninghamii (myrtle beech) forest.
Nothofagus cunninghamii (myrtle beech), leaves of Atherosperma moschatum (southern sassafras), top foreground.
Two large Athrotaxis selaginoides (King Billy pine); other trees Atherosperma moschatum (southern sassafras).
Crown of Athrotaxis selaginoides (King Billy pine); foliage of Atherosperma moschatum (southern sassafras), top left, and Nothofagus cunninghamii (myrtle beech), left and right.