Today’s guest: the mountain ash tree
Sofia: Hi, I’m Sofia Ceiba, and on this episode of Talking to Plants we are going to meet the mountain ash tree (Eucalyptus regnans). We are going live to the Dandenong Ranges in Victoria, Australia to talk with Granny Gumster.
Sofia: Granny Gumster is a cool name. Where did you get it from?
Granny Gumster: Hi-ya, Sofia! It’s because I am a gum tree, also known as a eucalypt or eucalyptus tree. Some people call me a mountain ash or a Tassie oak because they think I look like an ash or an oak, but those types of trees don’t grow in Australia. I have more common names like stringy gum and swamp gum …
Sofia: It sure can get confusing when plant species have so many names!
Granny Gumster: Yep! That’s why every plant humans classify gets one scientific name. Like mine, Eucalyptus regnans. That way, everyone is clear what plant they are talking about.
Sofia: Tell me, Granny Gumster, about where you live. And, I’d love to know some interesting things about yourself.
Granny Gumster: I live in a small region of South Eastern Australia, in the states of Victoria and Tasmania. I like to live in mountainous regions where it’s cool and wet. I like areas with over 1,000 millimeters (39 inches) of rain per year. Any place with less rain than that and I get thirsty!
Did you know? My species is one of the tallest flowering plants in the world, maybe even the tallest. We can grow over 100 meters (330 feet) tall! My American friend, Fredwood the coastal redwood, is only a little taller than me and my mountain ash pals.
Wollert (the Leadbeater’s possum): HOWDY!
Sofia: Oh, we have a surprise guest! Who are you?
Granny Gumster: That’s Wollert. He’s my buddy. He’s a Leadbeater’s possum, sometimes called a fairy possum. He lives in a hollow in my trunk. His species mostly lives in mountain ash forests, so our species have been neighbors for a long time.
Wollert: I eat the insects under Granny Gumster’s bark. YUM! Granny Gumster’s not crazy about insects, so she gives me a place to live and I give her free pest control. Win-win! Tell Sofia about our troubles, Granny …
Sofia: Troubles? Oh no! What’s troubling you two?
Granny Gumster: We mountain ash and Leadbeater’s possums only live in a small part of Australia. We mountain ash trees can live for 350-500 years. And the hollows that possums like Wollert need to live in take a long time to form in us big, old trees.
Some scientists predict our forests might be undergoing something called hidden collapse. Many of us old trees have been logged over the years for wood. Big bushfires have wiped out a lot more of us. That allows other types of forest to take over where we used to be. And our possum friends have been losing their precious hollow homes.
Only recently have humans noticed the loss of our forest spaces. But the good news is that now that people are more aware about what’s troubling the trees and the possums, they can start making better choices to protect our habitat.
Sofia: I’m so sorry to hear about your problems, Granny Gumster and Wollert. It sounds like there is still time for people to do something about it. I hope that being on the show today helped people get to know you and want to get to know you better so they can help protect you.
Granny Gumster and Wollert: US TOO! Thanks for having us on the show, Sofia.
Photographs of mountain ash forest
Here is some of the habitat of the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum (fairy possum). This is alpine ash and mountain ash (gum) forest in the Yarra Ranges National Park near Warburton, Victoria, in South Eastern Australia. This area is the traditional home of the Wurundjeri (Woiwurrung) people.
This large mountain ash tree stands in the Otway Forest of Victoria, Australia.
This is mountain ash forest in the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria, Australia.
