Forests of Central Tasmanian Highlands

In this video we highlight some of the species occurring in the chilly forests of Central Tasmania at an elevation of roughly 3,000', including but not limited to Eucalyptus delegatensis, Phyllocladus aspleniifolius, and Telopea truncata (Proteaceae, thumbnail).

[@robmcelwee389]

Interesting fact. The forests of Tasmania and New Zealand recovered almost pre K-P/G diversity in a few hundred years with minimal megaflora extinction while the northern hemisphere was devastated and required 10,000 years plus to recover with a large loss of pre impact megaflora,, especially older Cretacous angiosperms. That's why the former Gondwana has so many species that evolved in the Late Cretacous.

[@georget4141]

i wonder why that is. maybe many of the antarctic forest species were used to large portions of the year without sunlight?

[@xiphosura413]

@@georget4141 Actually a pretty solid hypothesis, in addition the impact was fairly solidly in the northern hemisphere at the time, so not only were they adapted to polar nights, and the extremes involved in that, but also the southern hemisphere would have been impacted to a lesser extent, especially considering the background climatological havoc being wreaked by the ongoing Deccan Traps flood basalt. It would be a very interesting thing to study, I hope I can find some papers on it!

[@georget4141]

@@xiphosura413 please let me know if you find any:)

[@robmcelwee389]

@@georget4141 also the bolide struck it was starting to be winter in the southern hemisphere and spring in the northern hemisphere. That may have played an important part. conifers like the podocarps and Aruacarias were eliminated and most of the basal angiosperms.

[@robmcelwee389]

@@xiphosura413 plus the southern hemisphere was in winter at the time of the impact. That may have made a difference.

[@mauionamission]

Thanks for all you do, you are amazing. I have lived a hundred more lives through your vids brother.

[@brendotheoffendo]

2:30 The random bird. 🤣 As an Australian I can confirm Australian birds are loud and mental. Loving your Australian videos. You have taught me a lot about the Proteaceae.

[@robyngraham8075]

A currawong

[@sleepingdrones]

Can confirm Plants of Tasmania Nursery is great, their website is a great resource for figuring out what naturally occurs in each area and it's a lovely little nursery with some great stuff. I couldn't get my Telopea to survive down here in the far south though, I think I need a more protected spot.

[@jambo52]

understory give it compost

[@thebassoonman2020]

I’m really liking these vids from Australia! The plant life and literally everything else is so different than what we have in Pennsylvania!

[@k33k32]

plus the place is lousy with echidnas! So cool

[@workerant7874]

@@k33k32 Echidnas rule ok

[@katiekane5247]

But I do see some similarities, the ranunculus family for one.

[@Desguiser]

Still can't believe you're in Australia. Love your work, I hope you get to visit Queensland- I'd love to know more about the local flora of my home state!

[@eukyaliptiss]

I live in Australia, Queensland, very close to remnants of Gondwana cretaceous period rainforests. I love these videos, especially as someone learning horticulture and botany at college; it comforts me to know that others have respect and admiration for these timeless and beautiful specimens as well.

[@michaelperrone3867]

That Cyttaria Cunninghamii has got to be the more bizzare fungus I've ever seen: you'd think since it forms a gall that it'd be woody, but the fruiting bodies actually look and taste like some kind of fruit

[@brendotheoffendo]

7:10 Some excellent advice. To see how the plants growing in their natural environment can give you a greater appreciation. Eucalyptus are meant to be in the bush, with other Eucalyptus and other plants all supporting and helping each other. Eucalyptus have shallow roots, if they grow together they can support each other. The Jacaranda mimosifolia, an absolutely beautiful tree, but it's overused and as a street tree in Australia. We have the Brachychiton acerifolius which is a native and will give a similar effect.

[@xiphosura413]

I remember when I was a kid I was so let down to learn that the Jacarandas were an invasive species. They also grow outta almost fuckin anything it seems! Same as the bloody Sth. American Leopard trees (Libidibia ferrea).

[@alyssaoconnor]

Casually searching the tube on the lookout for some local plant ID vids and I find the godfather describing my garden 🤯. Thanks for the great info and vid!

[@randbasic]

I’ve always loved Australian native plants. Waratah and E. Macrocarpa are amazing. Thanks for the video!

[@cindyferguson8855]

Greetings.....from the Western North Carolina Mountains...! All of the sudden....it made sense why you were continually mentioning how cold it was, how cold you were....blah, blah, blah. Having that virus in us.....totally wrecks our entire being....including producing our own heat. Much gratitude to you for being so cool....( you're like a walking botanical encyclopedia ! )....and sharing your life skill with us.

[@fiore1394]

Great work as usual! That Baeckea gunniana heathland-like habitat is super common in lots of parts of Australia. Very hard to differentiation some of those bloody species though when they're all together. There was a spot I did a vegetation survey in WA that had 4 almost identical Myrtaceae species within a 100m transect and it nearly broke me.

[@grannyplants1764]

I so appreciate you mentioning the soil type and the geology of the area you are looking at, it makes me think more about the soil my house plants are in, never did before. Love eucalypts, not an easy houseplant. When I was in Hawaii I could not get over the stunning colorful bark of the “ rainbow eucalyptus “ trees. I’m surprised there seem to be none in Tasmania…or are there…🤔🌱

[@xiphosura413]

The rainbow euc is actually a special case, one of the few not native to Aus, but endemic to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. From that list you can probably guess why it likes Hawaii and not Tasmania!

[@grannyplants1764]

@@xiphosura413 thank you so much for your reply !

[@brendotheoffendo]

The soil can make all the difference. I work on Sportsfeild and Wickets. Good soil condition means good grass and less problems. 🤣

[@fradianmanuel6881]

1 am here in tassie, definitely still time to watch this!

[@krissteel4074]

Have really been enjoying the Tasmanian forest journeys, some of the Australian temperate forests like that one is some of our most interesting in my opinion. Lots of animals, just stay away from the tiger snakes around spring, that's when they like to get it on and will beat your arse like you owe them money. Otherwise they don't bother people really, well mostly unless you bother them. Hopefully you'll have a mainland trip one day, check out our grasslands, relic subtropical rainforests, alpine areas and our temperate forests tend to have a lot more acacias because we're drier than a nun's nasty. Happy trails

[@gillesvanstrydonck671]

He already has beautiful video's on WA ;)

[@krissteel4074]

@@gillesvanstrydonck671 I'm still chewing though some of the back catalogue of vids, so I'll get to them eventually. Though WA and Tas are kind of cool in the sense that they're the 'weirdos' of the Australian ecosystems in that they're isolated from a lot of the other stuff. Tas gets the bonus of being a geological weirdo as well in that it was once attached to what is now the western, north american land mass. Like there's all kinds of rocks and minerals there which geologists lose their shit over trying to figure out why it doesn't exist on mainland Australia.

[@jessicacollins4042]

Tigers seem to be more of a "problem" this time of year and in February in Tassie.

[@krissteel4074]

@@jessicacollins4042 The ones in NSW near me tend to get difficult around November, that said its a fairly dispersed species that has quite a lot of morphology in terms of their behaviour, environment and what they prey upon. Personally I've never really considered them a 'bad problem', the eastern brown snake tends to win that prize for being a bit of a vile tempered, highly energetic a creature that's very quick to arc up and defend itself.

[@thecomprehensionhub4612]

Cheers and safe travels! Thanks for your quality content in Botany

[@alandonaly457]

Great stuff, I am so glad you were able to go to Tasmania.

[@minirlz]

Bro so cool you're in Tassie. I live and grew up here so I think I am completely unbiased when I say; Tasmania by a long margin has the coolest flora (and geology for that matter) in the world. Eucalyptus regnans and nothofagus gunnii alone mean we win but combine it with everything else and easy victory 😂

[@calnative4904]

Tony I totally appreciate and look forward to your in informative, entertaining and humorous videos. Thank You!

[@remblish4401]

one of the reasons there might be less riverine/aquatic plant life than you were expecting up by lake st claire is there was a lot of droughts up in the midlands last year (partly climate, partly overuse of water for hydroelectricity generation) and the lagoon part was almost completely dry when I went up. Good to see how well it's recovering this year after all the rain lol. Loving the videos

[@jamesdriscoll_tmp1515]

I'm glad you made it to Tasmania. Great paleobotany tie in!

[@ThomasTheFapEngine]

Again, thankyou so, so much for teaching me more about my home. It's nice learning about Your end of the world, especially how dusty and dry it can get in the cities, I'm surprised anything grows at all. But its nice when You outsiders appreciate Tassie for what it is, an old, beautiful, peaceful, little island. I'll come back to these videos again soon I'm sure. From Lucaston, Huon valley

[@cactusjoe]

Wonderful video, thanks so much for sharing!

[@simonburke8341]

i hope you do many more Australian videos!! I've loved all the ones you have done, and they sound awesome with your incredible accent!!

[@Jarooosa]

Loving these Tasmania videos, also added bonus of you getting Covid about the same time I did!!

[@LukeMcGuireoides]

So much knowledge, my brain is coming apart at the seams.

[@alfonsocavarretta1468]

Legend. I've lived here my whole life and this has really made me want to get out and see some bush

[@kat44con]

Love you to do a video of the plants of Cape Your Peninsula. Its still such wild country up here Tony. Love your vids.

[@AndreaDingbatt]

Amazingly Awesome Upload as Always!! Thank you So Much, my Husband is Still Alive because of Your Videos!! I would have Quite Cheerfully Strangled the Bored, Miserable old Git,,(,And, Composting him!!) ~Until You Inspired him to became an amateur Botanist, So, Thank You,,, for keeping me Out of jail, for Now!! Fantasic Video of Tasmanian Highlands, the Echidnas are Stupendous, I Love the Snozzles on them!! Andrea and Critters. ....XxX....

[@draganap3241]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@duncanpage1556]

Tony those look like centimeters tats on your fingers Metric? arent you from the USA..lol Great vids hello from Alberta

[@jensfreigang5829]

I like your vids very much! At 13.54 there is a fern in the background. I hoped you show it ;o)

[@snortkarl2070]

Wow awesome content man thanks

[@jamesclayton3388]

I love eucalyptus, must have several different trees in the garden. Shining gum, Regnans and blue gum and mountain gum. Grow great in S Wales UK.

[@vmota60]

With all of your knowledge and enthusiasm, it would be cool to do some botanical travel expeditions. I would sign up for sure!

[@caidenmurphy9486]

Proteaceae has some beautiful ass flowers living up north in Michigan I never knew till I watched these videos

[@fancypuss]

Are you going to come over to NZ?

[@cgriggsiv]

That was very interesting little crab spider at least it looks like to me

[@georget4141]

you should go to a dipterocarp rainforest next

[@caidenmurphy9486]

I was walking on the railroad today and I saw some juniper plants growing wild and I love those bushes junipers are so interesting they also smell really good and had beautiful blue berries I took some home and got seeds I planted a few in a area of my yard I let go wild

[@_NewtonMeter]

Tony out here How Bizarre-ing a la OMC

[@krismclean5080]

Licking Proteaceous macroflora is one of the most underrated Australian pastimes imo.

[@Healinghonies]

Your passion and knowledge base is fucking sick!!!!!

[@andginisin]

with it being so oddly cold are any invasives able to proliferate?

[@caidenmurphy9486]

I have never been to Australia but I really want to there are so many cool plants now personally I love nightshades and Australia has some super interesting ones there are so many I want to see so beautiful and interesting how they are related to plants all the way in south America and north America also after seeing proteaceae I like it it's an interesting family of plants

[@justincal6817]

Amazing

[@eoachan9304]

Amazing plants and great presentation! I wonder if any of these plants could survive winters in Zone 5a Ottawa, Canada?

[@andrewc7369]

Probably not. But worth a try. Coldest the tas highlands get is -5c. Maybe a -10c once every few years.

[@k33k32]

If it is this cold in their summer what the heck is their winter like? Warm? Or even colder?

[@kevinrudd1]

USDA zone 8 so their winter is similar to south Carolina or coastal north Carolina winter, minimum temperatures approaching -12C (10F)

[@k33k32]

@@kevinrudd1 Thanks for this informaiton! Weirdly I'm in NC right now. I wish we had echidnas here, grumpling around in the duff.

[@lulumoon6942]

DREAM COME TRUE! 😍

[@hikingwChris]

The foliage of Baeckea gunniana reminds of Adenostoma fasciculatum!

[@Joey-vw1id]

Hey great video my friend, It's really strange because I live in Pennsylvania and I actually have flowers blooming in my garden outside. I'm not sure what type of plant they are but I don't understand how it's happening...

[@diegop2311]

Tony is trying to traumatize me about those fukn cobras.

[@beselsqueletonman]

I've been hiking 6 times in Victoria, Australia over the past 3 weeks. Seen 3 deadly venomous snakes inc tiger snake. I wear snake gators if I go off the track.

[@JenniferLupine]

Thanks!

[@jdevil8877]

When are you coming to New Zealand?

[@usingerinamoapensis180]

26:00 A soldier beetle, Chauliognathus lugubris (Cantheridae).

[@elle3901]

Come back to New Zealand, sorry if you have you put up with airnz again for it 😆

[@frankmacleod2565]

Nice

[@raphlvlogs271]

are there any introduced Eurasian plants that became established and common in Tasmania?

[@andrewc7369]

Yes, but generally in disturbed/cleared areas. Willows, blackberry, gorse etc

[@ValeriePallaoro]

Not just fire, as it turns out. Though no tests have been done, if the weather is hot enough the banksia will open the seed pods. Usually there’s hot wind, so the seeds disperse wider than just dropping to the ground.

[@GrimLogic]

Man i looked away for a second and came back to see you being an absolute psychopath, grabbing what i thought was a Ulex Europaeus. Lost my shit then saw it was the Pultenea. Way less spikey. I gotta do more learning

[@caseroberts9863]

"Touche Micro-Risal" Come and knock on our door. We've been waiting for you. Where the kisses are hers and hers and his, three's company too.

[@Raterheim]

26:55 If not pine then pineapple, makes perfect sense to me.

[@cgriggsiv]

Telopea that I understand from years ago unless it's a different species but I am unaware of The one that you are showing Flowers or this case blooms in the cold and very Frost tolerant But I could be completely wrong and it won't be the first nor the last

[@ngreen9305]

Bruh you know your stuff, from a guy the subtropics of Australia. Really interesting channel. How do you find out all this? Are you on iNaturalist

[@Alsatiagent]

Can a spider be described as succulent? Cuz that green one looked like a tiny grape.

[@wamlartmuse]

7:00 that flower is amazing, I didn't realize it was part of a tree..

[@Merlin_Price]

My homeland. It's all so pretty and wild. These videos are incredible man. It's like being a monkey on Darwin's shoulder.

[@brendotheoffendo]

Fun Fact: Museums around the world have made absolute monstrosities from taxidermied Platypus and Echinacea.

[@swaddington9399]

Its about the same temperature here in British Columbia, its makes me laugh you think its cold! But that is mental the mosquitoes are still out...

[@HyrimBot]

i just use shea butter sometimes but i still can't get into my wallet on my phone because biomimicry would just let the bots in and they don't need the funds to get into the spa amiright

[@SomeMorganSomewhere]

FWIW Only the male Platypus has venom glands

[@kylediffusion9879]

Bruh, Tanzania? Guess botany does pay, keep up the good work!

[@michaelperrone3867]

I wonder if all these flowering leafy plants down near freezing temps evolved in Antarctica originally.

[@caidenmurphy9486]

Also what's super interesting is that on the railroad there is some non native shit but it almost forms some kind of ecosystem

[@jedmanson]

What are you moving here now?

[@jedmanson]

They're coming down here...

[@pierre-alexandreclement7831]

❤❤

[@brendotheoffendo]

4:00 Yes! I know what you mean. 🤣 It's Tasmania. Tasmania is still Australia but it's a different world.

[@sjmazzoli]

big fan of tony joe

[@patriciadean1649]

We hear the non botany stuff too ❤

[@StanTheObserver-lo8rx]

btw ,Don't blame the Oakland climate for failures of E.regnans or the Chiranthodendron-lol. You didnt water enough. Oakland's 10b climate might be best in the bay area for subtropicals. Also, The Dry Garden nursery usually has for sale the Monkeys hand tree. Great climate- add water for success.

[@ConstableRinkels]

1080 poison is sodium fluoroacetate , I dont think its plant derived. Its just chloroacetate reacted with potassium fluoride.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

It's actually a trademark phytochemical of many members of the Mirbelieae tribe of the pea family. gardendrum.com/2015/11/16/1080-and-a-signpost-of-poisonous-plants/

[@robertbullock4266]

did you see any tiny tinny honey bees down there

[@fluuufffffy1514]

That thumbnail is so upsetting. So many arms and eyes and one screaming mouth

[@aspx4581]

while youre in australia it might be cool to talk to some of the aboriginal people from the region who are involved in ecology or education abt native plants in general, if nothing else then only to find out about which ones are edible and how theyd be prepared before the introduction of colonial crops and farming. 'bush tucker' always makes me look at the plants around me in a new light even if i cant personally stomach much of it... australian edible plants are consistently so astringent idk why

[@elevatorphish]

I believe the plural of platypus is actually platypusies

[@elcomodo1]

Yo

[@MrTyeandrews]

I hope you discovered a Tasmanian cannabis cultivar! Lol

[@caidenmurphy9486]

Hello

[@cerberaodollam]

"ah nevermind, I'm full of sh1t" lol. Wholesome dad energy. Never knew that peas could be poisonous. Which plants, if any, would you recommend for a graceful exit?

[@raphlvlogs271]

can you get poisoned after eating animals that ingested the 10-80 poison pills?

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Probably, but who would be eating invasive cats and foxes?

[@fancypuss]

Not really, you would have to eat a huge amount of the meat - like 10kg in one sitting.

[@jessicacollins4042]

Yes. It happens to other animals that eat the dead and poisoned ones. Some think that is how the tasmanian devil developed the facial tumor disease over time, from eating animals poisoned by fucked up old poisons and 1080 etc.

[@heavymetalhomesteading]

It's amazing how people will cause massive ecosystem issues, and then deal with them in the most sadistic ways possible. Poor cats and foxes.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Poor native marsupials that have been pushed nearly to the verge of Extinction by feral cats and foxes!

[@heavymetalhomesteading]

@@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt Pushed nearly to extinction by humans bringing cats and foxes to places they don't belong. Can't blame the cats and foxes.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

@@heavymetalhomesteading nobody's blaming them, but can't let them stay, either!

[@snowstrobe]

That hakea could be Aust's chrissie tree. Of course, that cold weather is the reason the forest hasn't been destroyed by humans. As far as the effects of colonialism in Aust, they have a lot to address. Tasmania is the land of the only total genocide in modern history.

[@betula2137]

Just going to take a moment to thank the US for their export -- the Griffins -- who, on the mainland, were admiring our perfect woodland mosaic to craft a distinctively Australian city that fulfils the criteria of modern urbanists: Canberra. Wait a minute, I have to dislike the US again because our bureaucrats wanted car-centric bungalow American development instead of that.

[@markupton3482]

Oh wonderful, Tiger Snaykes! As time goes on and I get older, the alureof Australia and Tasmania fades... Soon to become extinct Marsupial Island... The way Earth used to be 70 million years ago!