Baw Baw Alpine Resort in summer is a fascinating place to visit. We were there for four days and walked on a lot of the tracks and ski trails within the village and beyond into the Baw Baw National Park. It is a sub-alpine, above 1220 metres, the most southerly on mainland Australia,
The only eucalypt growing there is the Snow Gum Eucalypt pauciflora and even though it is the flowering season for this eucalypt we didn't see any flowering so it lives up to its name. The Snow Gums on Baw Baw have a mallee growth habit in that they are multi-trunked from a lignotuber, and are taller than I have seen elsewhere. The trunks are smooth and white and glow beautifully in the late afternoon sun.
In winter the whole of the vegetation is covered in snow and it's amazing to see it flowering prolifically in the summer. We found over 90 species flowering and a further 30 species not in flower. Some of these plants only grow on this plateau. The heathland areas in the depressions and valleys are dominated by spagnum bogs and these are a significant feature of the vegetation on Baw Baw.
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