A year ago most of the east coast forests and ranges of New South Wales were burning. The roads that we use to travel to our favourite places on the south coast were impassable with fires raging all around them and the towns we most visit. Then COVID hit and travel was forbidden or unwise. So last week we finally had the chance to spend 2 days driving down to Batemans Bay and Mollymook (and back home of course). The forests along the roads are still recovering. Australian trees have evolved to cope with bushfires. Some of them actually need fire to germinate their seeds, so after bushfires you see a burst of these plants, mostly shrubs and wattles. Eucalypts have a different strategy. Under their bark they have loads of what the botanists call epicormic buds. These sprout as soon as growing conditions are right and the burnt tree is covered with what looks like a fuzz of leaves. Eventually normal growth of branches resumes. Most of the trees near the roads we travelled were still in this "fuzzy" stage. Some of the taller trees were almost back to normal. The small, dark plants in the clearer undergrowth are examples of some of the oldest plants on Earth; they are Buddawangs, cycads that date back to dinosaur times. Workmen are still clearing dead trees and repairing damaged roadwork. Let's hope that we now have many summers free of bushfires.
Labels: Bateman's Bay, Mollymook, New South Wales, south coast, trees
# posted by Bart Bear @ 7:33 pm
