The Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) of southern Australia is a straight, grey-trunked tree, reaching heights of over 90 metres in suitable conditions. Among flowering plants, only the Mountain Ash grows taller, the Manna Gum and the Messmate Stringybark about the same.
The bark is thick and fibrous at the base, smooth on the smaller branches. In the Tasmaniansubspecies, the entire trunk and the larger limbs are thick-barked; in the mainland subspecies the rough bark extends only part-way up the trunk.
The nominate subspecies is native to cool, deep soiled, mountainous areas between 1100m and 1300 m in Victoria and New South Wales; E delegatensis tasmaniensis is found in most higher_altitude parts of Tasmania apart from the south_west.
Alpine Ash requires very high rainfall by Australian standards — over 1200mm (47 inches) per year and snow or frosts during the winter months. It is an important tree for the timber industry.
Alpine Ash regenerates only from seed. While occasional fires do not severely impact Alpine Ash forest, repeated fires in the same area can wipe stands out because it takes roughly twenty years for seedlings to reach sexual maturity.
A year after the massive bushfires of 2003 in the Australian Alps, a thick carpet of Alpine Ash seedlings has sprouted in the ashes.
Existing seasonal road closures which were in place in the Alpine National Park before the recent storm event and flooding, remain in place and continue to be important protection for damaged areas and the public.
The Alpine National Park is one of the eight Australian Alps national parks that are managed co-operatively to ensure that Australia's mainland alpine and sub-alpine environments are protected consistently and that policies and guidelines across State and territory borders are compatible.
Mature AlpineAsh forests are common as you go up the mountains, and Snow Gums are the predominant eucalypts in the woodlands around the snowline.
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