Blue Mountains Plants
Flora

The native plants of the Blue Mountains have adapted as a result of its particular geology and climate. Many plants of the Blue Mountains are found nowhere else in the world. It is estimated that there are over 1000 species of plant in the Blue Mountains. The rugged landscape has meant  development has been no where near as as extensive as in other parts of Australia and the impacts of man have not been as noticeable. This proved to be a very important reason for granting the Blue Mountains National Park  its deserved World Heritage status.

It might seem hard to believe but one of the main threats to the native plants of the Blue Mountains is their collection by people, so please do not pick or remove any plant or flower whilst on our guided nature walks in the Blue Mountains.

There are several plant communities in the Blue Mountains. The most widespread plant communities in the mountains are the open forests which can be subdivided into two groups: the "Tall open forests" located in the sheltered slopes and gullies on the bottom of the valleys and the "Open forests" located on the ridge tops.
Both of these forest communities share a lot of similarities the eucalyptus trees are the dominant tree species and they both have an understory of vegetation.  The understory on the Open forests is often refered as scrub.

Other plant communities in the Blue Mountains include the swamp and the temperate rainforest.

Open forest (Dry sclerophyll)

This forest occurs on the ridge tops in the Blue Mountains is the plant community that most people visualize when they conjure up immages of the Australian bush.  The predominate tree in this community is the eucalyptus tree, which is also characteristically Australian.The most popular varieties of eucalypus include the Black Ash (Eucalyptus sieberi), Scribbly gum (Eucalyptus sclerophylla), the Sydney Peppermint (Eucalyptus piperita) and the Narrow leaved Peppermint (Eucalyptus radiata).  Not all of the tall  trees in the open forest community are eucalyptus. The Forest Oak (Allocasuarina torulosa) has adapted quite well in this environment.

The understorey of shrubs include such plants as the Mountain Devil (Lambertia formosa), Old man Banksia (Banksia serrata), Hairpin Banksia (Banksia spinulosa), Waratah (Telopea Speciosissima)

Swamp community

These occur on the upper Blue Mountains on poor drained soils The claystone layers are not as porous as the sandstone, causing water to run along the top of the claystone until it arrives at an outcrop. We will show you examples of this community on our walk in the Wentworth area. These hanging swamps are a really important source of water because they allow water to release gradually into the creeks even during dry spells . This provides a reliable source of water for the birds and animals that inhabit this community.

Some of the common plants found in the swamps, particularly in the Wentworth Falls area are sedges, rushes, grasses, ferns and herbs.

Yellow Eye (Xyris Gracilis)	Rush Lily (Sowerbaea juncea)	Coral fern (Gleichenia Dicarpa)
Button Grass (Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus)		(Echinops Sphaerocephalus)

Tall open forest (occuring in the valleys)

  The Tall open forests are characteristically found  on the valley floor. The adjective "tall" has been added to seperate this forest from the open forest on the cliff tops. Nutrients and water make their way down into the valley and feed the tall open forest trees. It is to no surprise that these forests are home to some of the Blue Mountains tallest and most spectacular trees such as Blue gums (Eucalyptus deanei),  Blue Mountains ash (Eucalyptus oreades), Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera) and the Angophora (very closely related to the Eucalyptus tree) Underneath these tall trees are lots ferns and schrubs.

Warm temperate rainforest(closed forest)

Even though the temperate rainforest contributes to less than one percent of the total area of the Blue Mountains. This is not because of negative human impact such as deforrestation, but because of our weather changing over thousand of years. The rainforests of the Blue Mountains are now restricted to the sheltered and moist slopes as well as along creeks that run through the open forests. The temperate rainforests is the vegetation type that is richest in fauna. Lyre birds are frequently heard and various parrots and smaller birds are often seen. If you are fortunate you may even see Diamond python slithering by. On extremely hot days our guides generally dedicate more time to the rainforests as they are cool. These forests are dominated by trees such as coachwood and sassafras.