Leaders were Leon Costermans and Noel Schleiger.

Vegetation Zones. The excursion travelled through four vegetation zones - foothills, montane forest, sub-alpine and alpine.

Harrietville - foothills. Leon demonstrated the proper use of reference books. There was a short walk along the Bon Accord track to put this into practice, and several plants were identified. These were Swamp Gum, Narrow-leaf Peppermint, Silver Wattle and Broad-leaf Peppermint.

Morning tea in the Montane Forest. The stop was in a burnt area of Alpine Ash. Leon talked about vegetation recovery after fire. Strategies in eucalypts are:-

• Exclusively by seed e.g. the Ash group of eucalypts.
• Epicormic shoots e.g. Peppermint and stringybark group and Mountain Gum.
• Regrowth from a lignotuber e.g. Snow Gum

If the fire frequency is less than 20-25 years, Alpine Ash will not have reached seed-producing stage, and will not regenerate.

An interesting variety of understorey plants were identified. Many flower profusely after a fire.

Mt St Bernard - sub-alpine. There was a sharp change from Ash to Snow Gum woodland. There was a wonderful panorama of mountain ranges, and a random mosaic of fire patterns could be seen.

A variety of sub-alpine shrubs and herbs were identified. The overstorey is of relatively tall Snow Gums. A diverse array of invertebrates occur.

Alpine Zone. This zone is to be covered more fully on later excursions. No trees grow in the alpine zone. The alpine zone is determined by altitude and aspect. Snow Gums will grow at a higher elevation on the warmer northern slopes than the southern slopes.

Brandy Creek - sub alpine. The lunch stop was in recently burnt sub-alpine woodland. Mountain Pepper was in flower, and four Flame Robins were seen.

Return journey. The roadside cuttings intersected lava flows and also sedimentary rocks at Hotham. In Hotham Village a "tunnel of Love" has been constructed to allow movement of Mountain Pygmy Possums under the road.

On the way down, tree species were identified from the bus, including Bogong Gum, which was growing among peppermints.

Peter Williams, Glenise and Rob Moors and Sheila Silver

1: Lomatia - a montane species. Jan 1987.
2: Dogwood is abundant in the montane area.