Huon 'Pines' & Ancient Rain Forests of Gondwana

One of the most charismatic & long-lived trees to be found in Tasmania is the Huon "Pine", which isn't a pine at all but actually a member of an extremely old conifer family (Podocarpaceae) from the Jurassic. Loggers began annihilating old-growth Lagarostrobos franklinii in the early 19th Century and logging wasn't stopped until the 1980s, at which point little to no old growth was left, except for the most remote patches of it which were only accessible after a few days of hiking through the wilderness in the remote Southwest. However, sometime in the 1980s a botanical survey revealed an isolated population of old growth Huons in the Eastern part of their range, as yet untouched by loggers.

In this episode we explore this grove and talk to the curator of botany at the Tasmania Herbarium about these incredible trees, as well as taking a closer look at some of the other species they grow with in these incredibly rich temperate rainforests.

Many thanks to Miguel de Salas & Matt Berger for help in the production of this episode.

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[theMusiCandMedicinE]

What a stunningly beautiful habitat. Judging by the lack of crude humour and tangents against the ills of modern society, I'd say joey was awestruck by the pure majesty of this place ☺️

[katiekane]

I wish I could give more every month, you show me things I'll never get to see in person. The drone shots are awesome Joey. Many thanks guys!

[magoobaguy]

I've never heard Joey sound so chill! Clearly being in a tassy forest is doing some magic.

[donfinch]

As an Australian, I'm quite proud of this. What an amazing plant the Huon is. Surely these areas should be listed as world heritage. Many thanks to Miguel for the tour.

[dangermouse]

Relictual, tender fuzzy drupacea,
bubbling creek, bubbly bark
another delightful journey
Thank you for sharing
and keeping it real.

[Kiu_]

The place looks straight out of a fairytale, it's kinda' fascinating how authors who never got to see such places wrote quite vividly about stuff like this, and, to their fortune, wonders like this one exist.

Yet another great video dude, thank you for sharing!

[BakedPotato]

I live in on the edge the South West National Park (Where the video is shot) in Tasmania, This is pretty much my back yard....

I know many areas of pockets of Huon Pines, Sassafras, Celery top, King Billys and Pencil pines...

Wonderful place.

[coltlineberry]

This has to be one of my favorite places you've been to. It's so peaceful and fun to imagine Antarctica looking like that.

[PSadvance]

Makes me want to move to Tasmania.
I live near some crazy temperate rainforests here in Victoria but nothing so wet as this. Here we still worry about everything going up in flames every summer with how hot and dry it gets.
Would love to see CPBBD check out the Yarra Ranges National Park area one day.

[PK]

I love all of the weird desert plants you show us, but it was a fun change of pace to see you in a rainforest!

[JacobCanote]

Such a cast in one show!
A joy to see.

[lowellphillips]

First of your videos I've ever seen.

Absolutely fantastic, I can't wait to watch more.

[jamieeto]

Truly an amazing, enchanting forest of magnificent species of plants and trees! Thanks for taking us on this tour!

[jessitar]

Have you been to see the Antarctic Beeches on the mainland? There is an awesome spot to see groves of them in Qld. They grow in a similar way to the Huon Pines. In clumps of multiple trunks, often 3 - 4 from what I have seen although I am no expert. They also send out branches that just then shoot off for long distances at times. I found one Antarctic Beech (nothofagus moorei) that you can crawl under and sit next to it's massive tap root going into the ground. Incredible spot. One of my favourite spots to visit.

[peggieincolfaxca]

oh my gosh what a beautiful holiday gift. Thank you!!!

[alghirab]

"I can't imagine seeing something like this and wanting to cut it down"

There was a book I read, I think it was historical fiction about druids. When they saw a really big, beautiful tree, they would tie ribbons around its branches. That really stuck with me and honestly I have a similar response when seeing trees like this. Like, look at you! Incredible! You are such a cool tree! Let me give you a ribbon and a gold star, you deserve it!

(Not that I would do it literally, most ribbons now are polyester, and F*** microplastics.)

[hallcody]

Tasmania, wow congratulations, such a great adventure for you I can imagine. Thanks for sharing a very exciting episode and local

[garybaxter]

Crikey, mate. When I expected to hear Miguel De Salas it never dawned on me that he would sound like Crocodile Dundee's nephew. I was expecting Speedy Gonzales.
Another fantastic show and Mr. Salas was a wealth of knowledge.
Thanks Tony.

[mrmetaphysic]

This forest almost looks extraterrestial.
It`s really amazing we have the opportunity to see places like this where we will never go to.
Great work, guys!

[patricktwo]

Thank you.

I hope you have the opportunity to visit New Zealand. Lots of interesting stuff.