Sub-alpine forest at Mount Donna Buang, Victoria, Australia. The picture, taken in December (midsummer), shows a section of forest in a sheltered gully at an elevation of 900m above sea level. The foreground shows herbaceous ferns with tree ferns (to right edge and lower left side). The large trees with straight trunks are species of eucalyptus (Mountain Ash - E. regnans; and Alpine Ash, also called Woollybutt - E. delegatensis). The smaller, more leafy trees in the picture centre are Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii). Mt. Donna Buang summit is 1250m above sea level. Lying snow occurs for only a few weeks in the year. The association of plants in this picture is typical of damp sheltered gullies below the summit of the mountain. E. regnans and E. delegatensis are both fire-sensitive trees. The uniform age distribution of the trees here results from seed germination following a previous fire.