There are an estimated 27,700 plant species in Australia,
including living fossils such as the cycad palm and the grass tree, and
brilliant wildflowers such as the waratah, Sturt’s desert pea, banksia
and kangaroo paws.
We also have around 2800 species of eucalypts (gum
trees), and 1000 species of acacia, which we call ‘wattle’. The Golden
Wattle is Australia’s floral emblem. Eucalypts make up almost 80 per
cent of our forests. Acacias, melaleuca (tea tree), casuarinas
(she-oaks), callitris (cypress pine), mangrove and rainforests make up
the other 20 per cent.
Australia’s tallest trees can be found in the south-west of
Western Australia in the
Valley of the Giants. Giant tuart, karri, and rich red jarrah which live for up to 500 years can be found here. The 1000 kilometre
Bibbulmun Track traverses a variety of jarrah, marri, wandoo, karri and tingle forests as well as internationally significant wetlands.
The cool temperate rainforest of the World Heritage-listed
Tasmanian wilderness contains some of the oldest trees on the planet including the rare Huon Pine.
The majestic Wollemi pine is a remnant from a 200 million
year-old landscape, when Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica were
joined together as the supercontinent Gondwana. It was thought to have
been extinct for millions of years, until rediscovered by a bushwalker
in 1994. Fewer than 100 trees exist in the wild, growing in the deep
rainforest gorges of the Greater Blue Mountains.
Gum trees (eucalypts) are the tree most commonly associated with
Australia. They are found in areas from sub-alpine to wet coastal
forests, through to temperate woodlands and the dry inland areas. The
Greater Blue Mountains has the most diverse range of eucalypt species on
earth. In fact, the
Blue Mountains gets its name from the blue shimmer which rises into the air from the oil from the trees. In the
Australian Alps, striking silver and red snow gums stand out amongst the snow-filled landscape. In South Australia’s
Flinders Ranges ancient river red gums live in the dry creek beds. Koalas feed exclusively on certain species of eucalypts.
Rainforest once covered most of the ancient southern
super-continent Gondwana, and there are primitive plants found in these
forests that are linked to those growing more than 100 million years
ago. Australia’s rainforests stretch across the country and cover every
climatic type. The
Daintree Rainforest
in north Queensland is the oldest tropical rainforest on earth, dating
back 135 million years. An extraordinary 13 different types of
rainforest can be found here. The Gondwana Rainforests of South East
Queensland and northern
New South Wales
include the most extensive areas of subtropical rainforest in the world
along with cool temperate rainforest. Pockets of dry rainforest live in
Western Australia’s
Kimberley region. There are monsoon rainforests in Kakadu National Park and lush fern gullies in Victoria’s Otway Ranges.
Wetlands attract high numbers of migratory birds in
Kakadu National Park
and The UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve-listed Croajingolong National
Park and Nadgee Nature Reserve in south-eastern Australia. Australia was
one of the first countries to become a signatory to the Ramsar
Convention for Wetlands of International Importance and the Cobourg
Peninsula in the
Northern Territory,
was declared the world’s first Ramsar site in 1974. Australia now has
65 Ramsar sites across the country covering around 8 million hectares.
Wildflowers, including everlasting daisies, turn the arid and
savanna grassland areas of Australia into carpets of colour in season.
From June until September more than 12000 species of wildflower can be
seen
blooming across Western Australia. From late August to mid-October more than 100 varieties of wildflower can be seen on
Kangaroo Island
in South Australia, many unique to the island. In the Australian Alps,
alpine meadows explode in masses of yellow billy buttons, pink trigger
plants and silver and white snow daisies, once the snow melts.
Australia’s unique flora also includes the Proteaceae
family of Banksia (bottlebrush), Grevillea and Telopea (waratah). Around
80 per cent of the plants and almost all of the Proteaceae species
found in south-west Western Australia are not found anywhere else in the
world. The heathlands along the
Great Ocean Road in Victoria are one of the most orchid-rich sites in Australia.
Wildflowers are protected species in Australia, so don’t be tempted to pick them!
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