Reference Community: Pittwater Spotted Gum Forest EEC Dry Ridgetop Variant

Written By India Turner

Equilibrium acknowledges that these reference community sites are on Garigal Land. We pay our respects.

Site: Careel Bay Crescent Reserve, Avalon

Soil landscape: Watagan - Narrow, convex crests and ridges, steep colluvial sideslopes, occasional sandstone boulders and benches.

Aspect: North-facing

Vegetation type: Dry closed forest

Flora:

Recorded as Occurring

Canopy

  • Allocasuarina littoralis (Black She-oak)

  • Allocasuarina torulosa (Forest Oak)

  • Corymbia maculata (Spotted Gum)

  • Eucalyptus paniculata (Grey Ironbark)

  • Eucalyptus punctata (Grey Gum)

  • Eucalyptus umbra (Broad-leaved White Mahogany)

Mid-storey

  • Acacia implexa (Hickory Wattle)

  • Acacia longissima (Long-leaf Wattle)

  • Astrotricha latifolia (Broad-leaf Star Hair)

  • Breynia oblongifolia (Coffee Bush)

  • Clerodendrum tomentosum (Hairy Clerodendrum)

  • Cryptocarya microneura (Murrogun)

  • Denhamia sylvestris (Denhamia)

  • Dodonaea triquetra (Large-leaf Hop Bush)

  • Elaeocarpus reticulatus (Blueberry Ash)

  • Elaeodendron australe var. australe (Red Olive-berry)

  • Exocarpos cupressiformis (Cherry Ballart)

  • Leucopogon juniperinus (Prickly Beard-heath)

  • Myrsine variabilis (Variable Muttonwood)

  • Notelaea longifolia forma longifolia (Large Mock-olive)

  • Notelaea ovata (Mock-olive)

  • Ozothamnus diosmifolius (Sago Flower)

  • Persoonia linearis (Narrow-leaved Geebung)

  • Phyllanthus gunnii (Leaf Flower)

  • Pittosporum revolutum (Rough-fruit Pittosporum)

  • Polyscias sambucifolia (Elderberry Panax)

  • Trochocarpa laurina (Tree Heath)

  • Zieria smithii (Sandfly Zieria)

Vines and Scramblers

  • Billardiera scandens (Apple Berry)

  • Cassytha pubescens (Downy Dodder-laurel)

  • Clematis aristata (Old Man's Beard)

  • Eustrephus latifolius (Wombat Berry)

  • Geitonoplesium cymosum (Scrambling Lily)

  • Glycine clandestina (Twining Glycine)

  • Hardenbergia violacea (Happy Wanderer)

  • Kennedia rubicunda (Dusky Coral Pea)

  • Morinda jasminoides (Sweet Morinda)

  • Pandorea jasminoides (Bower Vine)

  • Pandorea pandorana (Wonga Vine)

  • Sarcopetalum harveyanum (Velvet Vine)

  • Stephania japonica (Snake Vine)

  • Tylophora barbata (Bearded Tylophora)

Groundcover (Herbs, Grasses, and Sedges)

  • Austrostipa ramosissima (Stout Bamboo Grass)

  • Caesia parviflora var. parviflora (Pale Grass-lily)

  • Dianella caerulea var. caerulea (Blue Flax-lily)

  • Dianella caerulea var. producta (Blue Flax-lily)

  • Entolasia stricta (Erect Panic)

  • Lepidosperma laterale (Broad-leaf Rapier-sedge)

  • Lobelia purpurascens (White Root)

  • Lomandra confertifolia subsp. pallida (Mat-rush)

  • Lomandra filiformis subsp. filiformis (Wattle Mat-rush)

  • Lomandra glauca (Grass Mat-rush)

  • Lomandra longifolia (Spiny-headed Mat-rush)

  • Lomandra multiflora subsp. multiflora (Many-flowered Mat-rush)

  • Lomandra obliqua (Twisted Mat-rush)

  • Microlaena stipoides (Weeping Meadow Grass)

  • Oxalis perennans (Grassland Wood-sorrel)

  • Plectranthus parviflorus (Small-leaf Plectranthus)

  • Poa affinis (Slender Tussock-grass)

  • Podolobium ilicifolium (Mountain Holly-pea)

  • Pseuderanthemum variabile (Pastel Flower)

  • Schelhammera undulata (Schelhammera)

  • Themeda triandra (Kangaroo Grass)

  • Xanthorrhoea macronema (Small Grass-tree)

Ferns, Cycads and Conifers

  • Cheilanthes sieberi (Poison Rock Fern)

  • Davallia solida var. pyxidata (Hare's Foot Fern)

  • Macrozamia communis (Burrawang)

  • Pteridium esculentum (Bracken Fern)

Previously Recorded or Projected to Occur

Mid-storey

  • Olearia tomentosa (Toothed Daisy-bush)

Vines and Scramblers

  • Desmodium rhytidophyllum (Desmodium)

  • Marsdenia rostrata (Milk Vine)

Groundcover (Herbs, Grasses, and Sedges)

  • Dichelachne rara (Common Plume-grass)

  • Goodenia ovata (Hop Goodenia)

  • Paspalidium distans (Paspalidium)

Narrow-Leaf Geebung (Persoonia linearis) covered in fruit

Burrawang (Macrozamia communis) twined by climbers Wonga Vine (Pandorea pandorana) and Dodder Laurel (Cassytha glabella)

A more sheltered, sloping aspect leading up to the ridgetop

Pale Grass Lily (Caesia parviflora) in bloom

A Brown Ringlet Moth (Hypocysta metirius) resting on Australian Coleus (Plectranthus parviflorus)

An understorey of vines, grasses, and herbs

Scrubby Spurge (Phyllanthus gunnii)

Stout Bamboo Grass (Austrostipa ramosissima) - a huge specimen!

Forest Nightshade (Solanum prinophyllum) emerging through the grasses

Wild Yellow Jasmine (Pittosporum revolutum) in flower

A stand of Giant Hare’s Foot Fern (Davallia solida) nestled beneath a Burrawang (Macrozamia communis)

Wattle Mat-Rush (Lomandra filiformis)

Wattle Mat-Rush (Lomandra filiformis) in flower

Forest becomes more open on the ridgetop, where the ground is dominated by Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra)

Wild Clematis (Clematis aristata) climbing and flowering over a Burrawang (Macrozamia communis)

Native Holly (Podolobium ilicifolium)

A forest stand: Burrawang (Macrozamia communis) beneath Spotted Gums (Corymbia maculata)

Sandfly Zieria (Zieria smithii)

A drier understorey on the ridge top, featuring a Rice Flower (Ozothamnus dismifolius) in the centre

Bottlebrush Grass-Tree (Xanthorrea macronema) putting out a flower spike

India Turner
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