Prostrate stems of Moonah, Melaleuca lanceolata subsp. lanceolata, growing on cliff-top dunes at Blairgowrie, Nepean Peninsula, Victoria. Coastal Moon

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Prostrate stems of Moonah, Melaleuca lanceolata subsp. lanceolata, growing on cliff-top dunes at Blairgowrie, Nepean Peninsula, Victoria. Coastal Moonah Woodland is characteristic of calcareous dune systems, here developed over soils of the Bridgewater Formation. It is a valued feature of the Nepean peninsula, in decline, and listed as threatened under Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act of 1988. The picture shows the twisted stems of trees growing parallel to the ground in very exposed and unstable dunes facing the Bass Strait. In sheltered sites nearby, Moonah can develop as a long lived tree to 10m in height. Here, continual exposure has caused the plants to adopt a prostrate habit, growing away from the direction of the prevailing wind ( from the bottom of this picture ). The trees are likely to be doomed at this site due to the weathering and eventual collapse of the dune system itself

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Size: 5212px × 3468px
Photo credit: © DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: bass, biological, biology, blairgowrie, botanical, botany, bridgewater, coastal, exposure, form, formation, lanceolata, melaleuca, moonah, nepean, peninsula, prostate, strait, subspecies, wind, woodland