Reference Community: Coastal Alluvial Bangalay Forest
Equilibrium acknowledges that these reference community sites are on Garigal Land. We pay our respects.
Site: Nearby Bilarong Reserve, Narrabeen
Soil landscape: Watagan - Narrow, convex crests and ridges, steep colluvial sideslopes, occasional sandstone boulders and benches.
Note, however, that there are strong alluvial influences in the flats and that this PCT most commonly occurs on Erina soil types on the Barrenjoey Peninsula
Aspect: South, though this community is not limited by aspect but by proximity to alluvial deposits
Vegetation type: Swamp forest
Flora:
Recorded as Occurring
Canopy
Eucalyptus botryoides (Bangalay)
Livistona australis (Cabbage Tree Palm)
Mid-storey
Acacia longifolia (Sydney Golden Wattle)
Astrotricha floccosa (Woolly Star Hair)
Clerodendrum tomentosum (Hairy Clerodendrum)
Elaeocarpus reticulatus (Blueberry Ash)
Ozothamnus diosmifolius (Rice Flower)
Synoum glandulosum (Scentless Rosewood)
Syzygium smithii (Lilly Pilly / Midjuburi)
Vines and Scramblers
Cassytha glabella (Devil's Twine)
Eustrephus latifolius (Wombat Berry)
Hibbertia scandens (Climbing Guinea Flower)
Morinda jasminoides (Sweet Morinda)
Pandorea pandorana (Wonga Vine)
Smilax glyciphylla (Sweet Sarsaparilla)
Tylophora barbata (Bearded Tylophora)
Groundcover (Herbs, Grasses, and Sedges)
Gahnia clarkei (Tall Saw-sedge)
Hibbertia dentata (Trailing Guinea Flower)
Lepidosperma elatius (Tall Sword-sedge)
Lomandra longifolia (Spiny-headed Mat-rush)
Oplismenus imbecillis (Basket Grass)
Poa affinis (Slender Tussock-grass)
Schelhammera undulata (Schelhammera)
Ferns, Cycads and Conifers
Asplenium australasicum (Bird's Nest Fern)
Hypolepis muelleri (Harsh Ground Fern)
Macrozamia communis (Burrawang)
Podocarpus spinulosus (Dwarf Plum Pine)
Pteridium esculentum (Bracken Fern)
Cabbage Palms (Livistona australis), Rough Tree Fern (Cyathea australis) and Bangalay (Eucalyptus botryoides) make up a fragmented canopy closer to the site entry
Tall Saw Sedge (Gahnia clarkei) and an old King Fern (Todea barbara)
Further in, we spot some Tongue Orchid (Dendrobium lingiforme) hanging on a mossy boulder
Soft Bracken (Calochlaena dubia) making a ferny carpet
Lawyer Vine (Smilax australis)
Vines such as Monkey Rope (Parsonsia straminea) and Lawyer Vine (Smilax australis) create a humid zone for sedges and ferns
The juvenile leaves of a Wonga Vine (Pandorea jasminoides)
Toothed Guinea Flower (Hibbertia dentata) in bloom
A big Burrawang (Macrozamia communis) with Mat Rush (Lomandra longifolia) in the foreground, and Broad Leaf Star-Hair (Astrotricha latifolia) in the background
The fanning leaves of a Cabbage Tree Palm (Livistona australis)
Sweet Morinda (Morinda jasminoides) climbing across the ground