Tasmania’s Cider Gum

Written by Geoff Murray

Recently I have been exploring a patch of Tasmanian Cider Gums on Tasmania’s Central Plateau. 

The Cider Gum or eucalyptus gunnii,is an endemic eucalypt which has adapted to living in harsh Tasmanian alpine conditions. It’s sap has a very high sugar content and acts as a natural antifreeze to combat the very low winter temperatures of the Central Plateau.

The sap was tapped and fermented to make a cider drink by the Tasmanian Aboriginal people and early settlers, hence the name.

These particular trees are a subspecies of the Cider Gum being identified as Eucalyptus gunnii subsp. divaricataor the Miena Cider Gum.

The Miena Cider Gum is under significant threat of extinction, clearly shown by the fact that the majority of trees in this particular patch are dead. Climate change is a massive contributor to the threat to this species. These trees have adapted to a cold, wet environment, normally growing on the edge of frost hollows and they cannot tolerate drought stress.

Drought stressed trees produce weaker chemical defences against insect attack, and with the increasing population of insects due to warmer temperatures, the trees are more vulnerable to damage.

And just to add to their problems, the Miena Cider Gum leaves are particularly attractive to possums, which defoliate mature trees and eat the tree’s seedlings.

These trees are on private property and I have been very fortunate to be allowed to access the trees on several occasions.

The images were taken under varying conditions, none of them warm. Temperatures at the time were as low as -6°C and as high as 4 or 5°C. Wandering amongst these sentinels taking photographs is a slow process (on one occasion 6 kilometres walked in 6 hours ) so getting warm through physical exertion isn’t the case. As a result, I wore my luxurious Mont Icicle down jacket as well as Mont Powerdry thermal tops and bottoms and a Mont Micro Bushshirtalong with gloves and beanie. After 5 or 6 hours standing around in sub zero, misty and breezy conditions I appreciated my choice of clothing.

Sad as they are standing silently in death, they still present as beautiful sculptural forms. I feel privileged to be allowed to capture that beauty, as challenging as it is.

Geoff Murray
Mont Ambassador
https://www.instagram.com/geoffmurray55/