Fern Gully, Victoria, Australia

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I captured this photograph in the an old growth rainforest looking down into a deep gully during a light rain. There is a significant stream at the bottom of the gully but it's impossible top see through the dense vegetation. The trees, ferns, and other plants in these forests transpire so much water that the area actually creates its own rainy weather. These forest in turn needs that kind of weather to survive. This is one reason it is nearly impossible for them to recover once they are cleared.

This photograph was captured from above with a wide 24mm lens, which makes features look smaller than they look in person. The ferns in the image are tree ferns. They are true ferns that reproduce from spores rather than seeds and have a very long rhizome that is strong enough to support itself. Large tree ferns like these have fronds up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) in length, making the diameter of the crown around 6 meters or 19.8 feet. They can reach a height of up to 20 meters (66 feet) and be more than 500 years old.