Dandenong Ranges

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The Dandenong Ranges are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

[edit] Geography

Consisting predominantly of Devonian dacite and rhyodacite, the topography consists of a series of ridges dissected by deeply-cut streams. Sheltered gullies in the south of the range are home to temperate rainforest, fern gullies and Mountain Ash forest Eucalyptus regnans, whereas the drier ridges and exposed northern slopes are covered by dry sclerophyll forest of stringybarks and box. This area is highly prone to bushfires, which have included the infamous Ash Wednesday bushfires.

Devonshire teas (tea taken with scones, clotted cream, and jam, and primarily eaten as an afternoon snack) can be found throughout the ranges. A large part of the Dandenongs is covered by the Dandenong Ranges National Park. The Ranges are also the home of the popular Puffing Billy Railway.