Homage to an Unseen Tree, Victoria, Australia

(Click image to enlarge)

There are around 800 different eucalypt species in Australia. I was unable to identify this one. It may be a red ironbark eucalyptus, but I'm not sure.

I walked past more impressive trees of different types that are more photogenic and have less clutter around them without taking any pictures. This one is off trail and relatively inconspicuous in the forest environment. It's not something most people would even see so I don't imagine that anyone has bothered to photograph it. I was there to photograph streams and waterfalls but somehow this tree got my attention. Because of that I made the above split toned monochrome photograph.

Based on the tree's size and decrepitude, it is very old. It leans heavily and wears the scars of countless events it has survived. Fires, floods, infections, and other trees falling against it are among them. Old damage has healed over, but not nicely. A number of large burls caused by past viral or fungal infections mar its surface. Each burl takes between 30 and 40 years to form.

As with all things that survive into old age for their kind, luck played a significant role in this tree's survival. Lack of it accounts for the carcasses of some younger neighbors that lay rotting on the forest floor. Unfortunately nothing lives forever. The tree is much closer to the end of its life than the beginning. It could have quite a few more good years, or that leaning posture along with gravity, wind, and rain could take it down tomorrow. Until it dies or falls, it will quietly do what it has always done. I suspect its high point each year is blooming, which all eucalyptus trees do. It's too bad for us that the blossoms can only be seen by birds, bats, insects, and helicopters. Fortunately we can also enjoy the sight and scent of the younger acacia trees that bloom nearby. A couple of them are seen in the background of this photograph.