The ground layer is mostly pasture grasses and weeds, but the overall structure of the remnant grassy woodland surrounding Lake Burrumbeet to the west of Ballarat still gives a picture of what this place might have looked like 300 years ago. The wonderful old River Red Gums have a distinctive gnarled, low-spreading form typical of the River Reds of south-western Victoria. Next time you drive along the Western Highway, you will see many similar ones scattered between Beaufort and Ararat, and it’s worth exploring along Firey Creek or Mt Emu Creek to see them at their best.
An update 15 years later. The new and incredibly insensitive Western Highway expansion has cut down hundreds of these irereplacable old trees. Very, very sad.