Plants of Subtropical Eastern Australia

By Andrew Benwell

Plants of Subtropical Eastern Australia describes the rich flora of this biogeographically distinct region located on the east coast of Australia, covering the north coast of New South Wales and coastal South-East Queensland. This guide presents a selection of common, threatened and ecologically significant plants found in the region’s major vegetation habitats including rainforest, heathland, grassy forest, wetlands and rock outcrops.

More than 500 plants are featured, with photographs and descriptive features enabling the reader to identify these species if encountered. Interesting biological, cultural and historical characteristics of each species are included, along with notes on the plant’s biogeography and a map of its distribution.

Suitable for anyone with an interest in plant ecology and botany, Plants of Subtropical Eastern Australia is the definitive guide to this fascinating region of Australia and its unique flora.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Release date: Dec 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781486313679

Andrew Benwell

Andrew Benwell has a PhD in plant ecology from the University of New England and a Diploma of Horticulture from Burnley Horticultural College. He has 40 years of experience as a botanist working in New South Wales and Queensland for federal, state and local government agencies and the private sector. Andrew currently manages Ecos Environmental Pty Ltd, a consultancy specialising in native flora and ecosystem management. Andrew has published research on vegetation classification, habitat restoration, plant genetics, plant population ecology and co-authored the third edition of the ANPC Guidelines for the Translocation of Threatened Plants in Australia.

Book preview

Coastal dunes in SEA consist of sand deposits of different age and shaped into various landforms that support a wide range of vegetation. The frontal dune refers to the dune formation closest to the present coastline, deposited since the sea reached roughly its present level about 10 000 years ago at the end of last Ice Age (sea level appears to have dropped 1–2 m since its peak). This dune is Holocene in age, the geological time we are currently living in. Generally, it is only one or a few hundred metres wide and abuts deposits of older Pleistocene sand further inland. Holocene frontal dune sand contains an appreciable amount of silt and clay delivered to the coast by rivers, in addition to quartz sand. This finer fraction weathers to release significant amounts of plant nutrient, which can support fairly lush vegetation, more so than most of the old, leached Pleistocene sands.

Three main vegetation types occur on the frontal dune: (i) strand plants or beach pioneers, (ii) frontal dune scrub and woodland often dominated by Coast Banksia (Banksia integrifolia), and (iii) littoral rainforest, which occurs mainly in the southern half of SEA (even though common on Cape York). These plant communities represent a succession of vegetation development stages from bare sand through to complex rainforest. The beach pioneers are a varied collection of grass, sedge, herb and shrub species, specialised at colonising shifting sand where the ocean meets the land. They help to trap and stabilise sand as well as begin the process of soil formation. Coast Wattle (Acacia sophorae) and Coast Banksia play key roles in the development of vegetation into forest.

Most of the original frontal dune ecosystem in SEA was destroyed by sand mining for heavy minerals between 1940 and 1980. Remnants of original vegetation indicate that the original frontal dune from the Gold Coast southwards supported a near continuous band of littoral rainforest. This was possible because of the higher nutrient content of recently deposited sand washed out by rivers, high rainfall and also proximity to the sea, which results in an input of nutrients in fine sea spray. The flora of littoral rainforest is described on pages 17–28.

After rivers deposit sediment on the coast it is shunted northward by the prevailing swell from the southeast. This movement of sediment has been called the ‘east coast sand river’. Some of the sand ends up on the large sand islands off the coast of SE Qld where in the past it was blown up into high dunes. The age of these older sand deposits is thought to go well back into the Pleistocene, which started 2.5 million years ago, but the processes involved in high dune formation have still not been fully explained or dated. Successive periods of dune formation are piled up against each other, possibly corresponding with glacial–interglacial cycles, accompanied by rising and falling sea level. The dunes may have formed during low sea level when large areas of sandy sea floor were exposed and the SE trade winds were stronger. Dune formation is not active at present except on a very minor scale.

The Holocene frontal dune often abuts deposits of Pleistocene sand that was high enough or far enough inland to escape the rising sea level at the end of the last Ice Age, and many previous ones. Soils are extremely infertile and only able to support wallum heathland (p. 29) or high dune woodland and scrub on deeply leached soil. This vegetation type shares many species with shrubby dry sclerophyll forest (p. 91) found on quartz sandstone geology inland. There are notable exceptions though, including the unique subtropical rainforest on Pleistocene sand at Cooloola and Fraser Island in SE Qld, and Coastal Cypress Pine forests.

Eighteen Mile Swamp on the east coast of North Stradbroke Island, SE Qld. On the right are high forested dunes formed during the Pleistocene and the dark band on the far left marks the frontal dune formed when sea level reached its present height. The wide swamp began as a coastal lagoon dammed by the frontal dune, now filled with peat. Evidence of a fire that burnt across the swamp during a recent drought can be seen.

Lake Poona in the forested dunes of Cooloola National Park, SE Qld. This unique environment, which extends north onto Fraser Island, supports a mosaic of sclerophyll open forest and subtropical to dry rainforest on old Pleistocene sand, inland of the recently formed Holocene dune. Rainforest is almost absent from old, large sand masses further south and littoral rainforest is restricted to the Holocene frontal dune.

Coastal Spinifex

Spinifex sericeus

This grass has the distinction of being the first plant to colonise land along most of the SEA coastline. As new deposits of sand are formed by wave and wind action, it sends out runners from higher up the foredune that take root in the loose sand. Seedlings probably also germinate in the rainy season. Male and female flowers are produced on separate plants. The female flower is a globe to 20 cm in diameter with seeds enclosed in long, spoke-like bracts. In the wind, the whole unit detaches and rolls along the beach. It ranges from NE Qld to Tas. The genus Spinifex has three species in Australia and one in Asia.

Coastal Spinifex

Family: Poaceae

Identification:

•grass with long runners or stolons

•leaves pale green, silky hairy

•flowers male and female

•female head globular, 20 cm diam.

•head detaches, dispersed by rolling

Ecosystem: beach and foredune

Goat’s Foot/Beach Morning Glory

Ipomoea pes-caprae ssp. brasiliensis

Perennial herb with trailing stems to several metres long and two-lobed leaves with the outline of a goat’s footprint. It has trumpet-shaped, morning glory flowers, magenta in colour. This is one of numerous sand stabilising species found on foredunes in SEA. The species is distributed globally on beaches and dunes in the tropics and subtropics. Previously known as species pes-caprae ('foot-goat' in Latin), this is now regarded as a subspecies. In Australia it reaches its southern limit on the east coast at Seal Rocks, but also reported near Sydney.

Goat’s Foot/Beach Morning Glory

Family: Convolvulaceae

Identification:

•perennial with long trailing stems

•leaves leathery, smooth, 2-lobed

•leaves 6–10 cm x 5–10 cm

•flowers 5–7 cm diam, funnel shaped

•fruit a capsule 1–2 cm, seeds hairy

Ecosystem: beach and foredune

Pigface

Carpobrotus glaucescens

Prostrate herb with succulent leaves and large, purple and yellow flowers. The leaves are thick, 3-angled and glaucous. Flowers are solitary and 4–6 cm wide. What appear to be many frilly petals are actually staminodes, or sterile stamens modified to look like petals. Inside these are 300–400 true stamens. This species ranges from islands off the coast of Mackay, Qld, south to East Gippsland, Vic, where it grows on frontal dune sand stabilised by Coastal Spinifex. The genus Carpobrotus includes about 20 species found mainly in South Africa and four species in Australia.

Pigface

Family: Aizoaceae

Identification:

•prostrate succulent, stems to 2 m

•leaves 4–10 cm x 1–1.5 cm

•leaves 3-angled, thick, glaucous

•flowers solitary, purple and yellow

•fruit succulent, 2–3 cm, red/purple

Ecosystem: beach and foredune

Coastal Jack Bean

Canavalia rosea

Trailing and climbing, leguminous herb with pink to mauve pea flowers. Stems to 3 m long, glabrous or hairy. Leaves trifoliate, leaflets to 10 cm long, round to oblong, glabrous at maturity. The pink flowers produce a large seed pod 10–15 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. These contain shiny beans to 2 cm long which are poisonous. Found on beaches and foredunes from Jervis Bay south of Sydney north to Cape York and right across northern Australia to Exmouth in WA. The species is distributed globally in warmer latitudes.

Coastal Jack Bean

Family: Fabaceae

Identification:

•perennial herb, trailing stems to 3 m

•leaflets three, 4–12 cm x 3–10 cm

•flowers pink/mauve, 2–3 cm long

•pod 10–15 cm x 2.5 cm

•seeds to 2 cm long, poisonous

Ecosystem: beach and foredune

Coastal Sheoak

Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. incana

Distinctive tree with weeping foliage of fine, grey-green, weeping branchlets. Ranges from SEA north to Cape York and across the north to Darwin. Also widespread in SE Asia on the coast. Valued for making high-quality charcoal fuel and likely to have been spread by people. Restricted naturally to the coastal fringe on sand or headlands, but widely planted inland. During onshore winds in summer, water droplets form on its foliage and this process appears to be a source of water and nutrients. The subspecies found in SE Asia may grow to 35 m tall.

Coastal Sheoak

Family: Casuarinaceae

Identification:

•tree 6–12 m high, bark dark grey

•foliage of branchlets, not leaves

•foliage drooping, grey-green

•flowers minute, at end of branchlets

•seeds in round, pointy cones

Ecosystem: frontal dune

Coast Wattle

Acacia sophorae

Coast Wattle grows on frontal dune sands from the Noosa River, SE Qld, south to Vic, SA and Tas. Fully exposed to sea winds, it can form dense thickets to 3 m high, which help to protect the coast from storm erosion. After fire it regenerates from seed and mature plants can regrow and spread by layering when covered by sand. Some botanists regard this wattle as a subspecies of Acacia longfolia. It differs mainly in its short, broad phyllodes and dune habitat.

Coast Wattle

Family: Fabaceae

Identification:

•shrub 1–3 m, forming dense thickets

•stems decumbent, layering

•leaves parallel-veined, apex bluntish

•leaves 5–10 cm x 2–3 cm

•flowers in spikes, pods long, narrow

Ecosystem: frontal dune

Pandanus, Screw Pine

Pandanus tectorius

Unmistakable small tree with prop roots and long, spiky edged leaves arranged in a spiral, giving it the name Screw Pine. Large specimens can be more than 10 m wide. Pineapple-like fruit to 30 cm long grow from leaf tufts at the end of branches and consist of 7–11 segments that turn yellow when ripe and have a fibrous, sweet, edible base. This species ranges along the coast from Port Macquarie, NSW, to Cape York; also Malesia and Pacific islands as far as Hawaii. The genus Pandanus contains some 750 species, which are found mainly in the Old World tropics.

Pandanus, Screw Pine

Family: Pandanaceae

Identification:

•shrub or small tree with prop roots

•leaves to 1 m long, margins spiny

•leaves spiralled, in 4 rows

•flowers unisexual, on different plants

•fruit pineapple-like, yellow, fragrant

Ecosystems: frontal dune, headlands

Coast Banksia

Banksia integrifolia ssp. integrifolia

Coast Banksia occurs from Central Qld to southern Vic and historically in Tas, where reported as extinct. Common on coastal sand and extending inland on well-drained bedrock soils, merging with subspecies monitcola (p. 216) at high elevation. An adaptable species, it varies in growth form from a low shrub on the beach foredune, exposed to strong sea winds, to a tree10–20 m high on the lee side of the frontal dune. In the southern half of SEA, this banksia is a key pioneer tree in the succession of frontal dune vegetation from dune scrub to littoral rainforest.

Coast Banksia

Family: Proteaceae

Identification:

•low shrub or tree up to 20 m high

•leaves 5–10 cm x 17–25 mm, whorled

•leaves dull green, white below, blunt

•adult leaves entire, juveniles toothed

•cones non-persistent, seed released

Ecosystems: DSW, LRF, SDSF, GDSF

Coast Banksia

Banksia integrifolia

Old Man Banksia

Banksia serrata

Wallum Banksia

Banksia aemula

Red Ash

Alphitonia excelsa

Tree Broom Heath

Monotoca elliptica

Black Sheoak

Allocasuarina littoralis

Blackbutt

Eucalyptus pilularis

Scribbly Gum

Eucalyptus racemosa

Red Bloodwood

Corymbia gummifera

Northern Smooth–barked Apple

Angophora leiocarpa

Brush Box

Lophostemon confertus

Morton Bay Ash

Corymbia tesselaris

Old Man Banksia

Banksia serrata

Single-trunked tree to 15 m high with rough, pustular, grey bark and an upright growth form. Leaves tough, leathery and toothed. Large cream flower heads mature into grey, bristly cones with protruding seed follicles that store seed. The follicles open after fire and seed germinates in the ash to replace old, dead or dying trees. This species appears to be killed by a hot fire and resprouts after a cool fire. Found on old coastal sands and deep sandy soil inland on sandstone ranges. The species is distributed from Fraser Is, Qld, south to Wilsons Promontory, Vic.

Old Man Banksia

Family: Proteaceae

Identification:

•tree 10–15 m, upright, rarely a shrub

•bark grey, covered in rounded warts

•leaves 10–20 cm x 2–4 cm, serrated

•flower head 10–15 cm long

•seed follicles up to 30 per head/cone

Ecosystems: DSW, SDSF

Broad-leaved Geebung

Persoonia stradbrokensis

Shrub or small tree to 5 m high with elliptical leaves to 4 cm wide. Small, yellow, tubular flowers produce fleshy fruits with a hard inner stone, which ripen yellow. Endemic to SEA between Fraser Is, Qld, and Port Macquarie, NSW. Found along the coast on sandy soil, occasionally at high elevation on granite. The genus Persoonia with about 100 species is endemic to Australia and found in all states. The stigma and style do not function as a pollen presenter as in other genera of this family. With a few other genera they form one of the five subfamilies of the Proteaceae.

Broad-leaved Geebung

Family: Proteaceae

Identification:

•shrub/small tree, branches hairy

•leaves hairy juvenile, smooth adult

•leaves 3–10 cm x 1–4 cm

•flowers yellow with 4 tepals, 1 cm

•fruit a drupe, green turning yellow

Ecosystems: DSW, SDSF

Weeping Cabbage Palm

Livistona decora

Coastal palm found in eastern Qld from Townsville, Central Qld, to Cooloola National Park in SE Qld. Adults palms have a slender trunk bearing drooping, palmately compound leaves on long leaf stalks (petioles). These cover the trunk of young palms. Shiny, black fruits hang in panicles to over 3 m long. Found along the coast on sandy soil and inland for 50 km or more along drainage lines and occasionally on bedrock soils derived from different geology. This palm is fire adapted and resprouts after fire. A popular palm widely planted in Australia and overseas for its decorative weeping foliage.

Weeping Cabbage Palm

Family: Arecaceae

Identification:

•palm 10–20 m high

•leaf palmate, many segments

•petiole 1.5–2.8 m long, leaf to 2 m

•leaf segments drooping

•ripe fruit black, in panciles 1–3.5 m

Ecosystems: DSW, GDSF, DRF

Red Ash

Alphitonia excelsa

One of the commonest trees in the SEA, found in all types of forest, including DSW, grassy and wet sclerophyll forest, and lowland rainforest. Common in coastal dunes where it grows 5–10 m high and has light grey, smoothish bark, becoming dark and rough at the base with age. Leaves dark green and glossy above, off-white below with a dense cover of minute hairs. The 1 cm fruit ripen black with a thin shell that falls to display two or three, suspended, red seeds. This species ranges from the NSW South Coast to Cape York, across northern Australia and extending far inland in Qld. Red Ash also features in GDSF (p. 138).

Red Ash

Family: Rhamnaceae

Identification:

•small to medium tree, 5–10+ m

•bark light grey, smoothish, dark at base

•leaves glossy above, whitish below

•fruit 1 cm, domed, green then black

•shell shatters to display red seeds

Ecosystem: most ecosystems

Sand Beard Heath

Leucopogon pimeleoides

Shrub 1–3 m tall widely distributed from SE Qld (Kroombit Tops) to Vic and Tas. This species is confined to SEA, ranging from Fraser Is, Qld, south to Nelson Bay, NSW, and occurs on sandy soils along the coast. The genus Leucopogon has small, white tubular flowers with petal lobes covered in a beard of white hairs. Originating in Australia, where most species are found, this genus has spread north as far as Indo-China since the Australian and Asian tectonic plates came into contact some 30–40 million years ago.

Sand Beard Heath

Family: Ericaceae

Identification:

•shrub 1–2 m, very floriferous

•new branchlets silky hairy

•leaves 5–15 mm x 1–3 mm

•flowers in spikes to 4 cm long

•flowers white, petals bearded

Ecosystems: DH, MH, DSW

Beard Heath

Leucopogon margarodes

Upright, open branching shrub to 3 m high with small, hard, ericoid leaves and tiny, white, bearded flowers. Leaves slightly wider toward the apex and convex above. Found in frontal dune scrub and on older Pleistocene sands in dry heath and shrubby dry sclerophyll forest. Like most beard heaths, this species is killed by fire and regenerates from the soil seedbank. Fires typically occur at least once every 10–15 years in DSW on coastal sand. Endemic to SEA, this species ranges from Fraser Is, Qld, to just north of Sydney.

Beard Heath

Family: Ericaceae

Identification:

•shrub to 3 m, upright and open

•leaves linear, slightly wider at the apex

•leaves 6–10 mm x 1–3 mm

•leaf margin turned down

•flowers sparse, in leaf axils

Ecosystems: DH, DSW, SDSF

Midgenberry

Austromyrtus dulcis

A spreading shrub 1–1.5 m high, often suckering, with small, opposite, dark green leaves, white flowers and sweet, edible berries. The common name derives from Aboriginal people of the Minjungbal tribe who lived on the coast around the border of NSW and Qld. This species is endemic to SEA, ranging from Fraser Is, Qld, south to the Bellinger River, NSW. It grows in DSW on coastal sand. The berry is cream coloured with tiny, purple spots and ripens in summer. The genus Austromyrtus (3 spp.) is restricted to eastern Australia.

Midgenberry

Family: Myrtaceae

Identification:

•spreading shrub, 1–1.5 m

•leaves 2–3 cm x 5–10 mm, acute

•leaves dark green, smooth

•white flowers, solitary or in racemes

•berry cream, finely speckled

Ecosystem: DSW

Thyme Pink Bells

Tetratheca thymifolia

Slender sub-shrub to 1 m high, leaves whorled, usually in fours. Flowers pendent, magenta. Grows on sandy soil in forest and heathland from Fraser Is, Qld, south to East Gippsland in Vic. The genus Tetratheca, previously placed in its own family, is now included in the Elaeocarpaceae, better known for rainforest trees, although pendent flowers that face downwards are a common feature of the family. There are 50–60 species of Tetratheca, the majority found in eastern Australia where they occur in sclerophyll vegetation.

Thyme Pink Bells

Family: Elaeocarpaceae

Identification:

•slender sub-shrub, 0.3–1 m high

•leaves whorled, usually in 4s

•leaves 1–2 cm x 3–8 mm, shiny/hairy

•flowers pendent, solitary, lilac-pink

Ecosystems: DSW, SDSF

Flannel Flower

Actinotus helianthi

Short-lived, perennial herb, 30–90 cm high with grey-green, dissected leaves and white flower heads to 8 cm wide. The whole plant is covered in short, woolly hairs. Found in open areas on well-drained, sandy or clayey soils. Ranges from Central Qld to the NSW South Coast, from the coast inland to the western slopes. In SEA, confined mainly to the narrow strip of coastal sand in NSW. It often appears for a few years after fire then dies off and lies dormant in the soil seedbank until the next fire.

Flannel Flower

Family: Apiaceae

Identification:

•perennial herb 30–90 cm high

•stems and leaves woolly, grey-green

•leaves dissected, to 5 cm long

•flowers minute in a compound head

•flower head to 8 cm in diam.

Ecosystems: DSW, R, SDSF

Coral Vine

Kennedia rubicunda

Small, fast-growing vine common on sandy soil in DSW, also in wet and dry sclerophyll forest on bedrock soils. The long, red pea flowers are adapted for bird pollination. They have an elongated keel that hangs down and conceals the stamens and style. When a bird probes the flower for nectar, often from above, the stamens pop out of the keel and dust its head with pollen. Coral Vine regenerates from dormant seed after fire and is most vigorous during this time. Widely distributed.

Coral Vine

Family: Fabaceae

Identification:

•vine with slender stems, vigorous

•leaves trifoliate, leaflets 5–10 cm

•leaves smooth or rusty hairy

•stipules at petiole base 2–4 mm long

•flowers red, pods hairy, 5–10 cm

Ecosystems: DSW, SDSF, WSF

Coastal Cypress Pine

Callitris columellaris

This species ranges from Fraser Is, Qld, to the Clarence River, NSW, where it occurs on coastal Pleistocene sand and rarely on clay-textured soils. It is one of the few conifers to dominate forest in SEA, although the areas are small. Killed by fire if 100% scorched, and lacking a dormant seedbank, it requires low-intensity fire to persist. It can self-regulate fire to a degree by producing leaf litter that inhibits understorey plant growth and fuel build-up. There are no flowers and reproduction takes place in male and female strobili. The male strobili release clouds of pollen and seeds form in the female strobili. This species has an association with Aboriginal camp sites, which were often near the mouth of rivers and later became the main coastal towns, such as Brunswick Heads and Evans Head.

Coastal Cypress Pine

Family: Cupressaceae

Identification:

•tree to 10 m, bark furrowed, blackish

•leaves 1–3 mm long, bright green

•male strobili dense, small, yellowish

•female strobili or cones to 2 cm diam.

•cone smooth, with 6 scales, 3 small

Ecosystem: DSW

Fraser Island Zamia Palm

Macrozamia douglasii

This graceful cycad (not actually a palm) has a tuft of arching, finely divided, glossy fronds 1.5–3 m long. Seed cones up to half a metre long are produced near the ground. Usually it has no trunk although old plants may have a short trunk to 1 m high. This cycad is restricted to coastal sand terrain on Fraser Island and the Cooloola sandmass on the adjacent mainland, both areas on Pleistocene sand. It grows in sclerophyll forest with banksia, eucalypts and grasstrees, and also in rainforest on sand.

Fraser Island Zamia Palm

Family: Zamiaceae

Identification:

•large tufted, palm-like plant

•fronds 1.5–3 m long, tough

•fronds finely pinnate, shiny

•leaflets 120–200 per frond, not spiny

•seed cone elongated, to 0.5 m

Ecosystems: DSW, STRF

Bracken Fern

Pteridium esculentum

Very common ground fern 0.6–1.5 m high, with tough, shiny fronds on brown stems (stipes). The fronds usually last for about a year then die-off and new ones sprout from an underground rhizome network. Found in most types of forest and an invasive weed on grazing land. Some botanists treat this fern as one worldwide species with several varieties, while others divide it into seven species. The latin name ‘esculentum’ means edible, as the rhizomes were used as a source of starchy food by Aboriginal people. Found in all states and from the coast to the western slopes in eastern Australia.

Bracken Fern

Family: Pteridaceae

Identification:

•rhizomatous fern 0.6–1.5 m high

•fronds erect, stiff, smooth

•frond stalk (stipe) brown

•frond dark green above, pale below

•sori continuous under the margin

Ecosystems: most habitats, not rainforest

Littoral rainforest is a distinctive form of closed forest found in a narrow band usually within 1 km of the coast. (The word ‘littoral’ means of the coast or seashore.) It generally occurs on the lee slope of Holocene frontal dunes and extends onto bedrock soils on steep coastal headlands. At least four environmental factors combine to create habitat suitable for littoral rainforest: exposure to salt laden sea winds which can blow constantly during some months of the year; sandy soil with limited water-holding capacity; protection from fire; and mean annual rainfall >1300 mm. Fire protection is often afforded by hind dunes, lagoons or subtropical rainforest directly inland. Moisture stress resulting from a windy environment and sandy soil gives littoral rainforest a similar appearance to dry rainforest, with few epiphytes and palms, and a sparse ground layer.

Littoral rainforest is dominated by several tree species largely confined to this rainforest type and absent from subtropical rainforest immediately inland, including Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides), Coastal Aspen (Acronychia imperforata), Three-veined Laurel (Cryptocarya triplinervis – coastal form) and Bird's Eye (Alectryon coriaceus).

Most littoral rainforest, which once occurred in SEA in a near continuous band from the Gold Coast south, was destroyed by sand mining for heavy minerals between 1940 and 1980, and replaced by exotic Bitou Bush (Chrysanthemoides monilifera ssp. rotundata) introduced from South Africa, and used to revegetate the bare sand left behind. Considerable progress has been made in removing this pest and the initial stages of succession back to the climax vegetation of littoral rainforest is evident in many areas. The resilience of dune vegetation is not so surprising when you consider that the frontal dune ecosystem must have been in a continual state of advance or retreat, with short periods of relative stability, during the last 2.5 million years (the Quaternary Period), in response to the many episodes of sea level rise and fall.

Littoral rainforest growing on Holocene sand in Brunswick Heads Nature Reserve, NSW. Note the dense vines and lack of ground cover and epiphytes, typical features of littoral rainforest.

Hard Corkwood Endiandra sieberi. This medium-sized tree is found on the margin of littoral rainforest and sclerophyll forest. It is easily identified from its thick, grey to blackish, fissured bark, which looks similar to the European Cork Oak, but darker. Leaves are fairly narrow, leathery and glossy. Like all members of the laurel family the flowers are inconspicuous, but the fruits are olive-sized and a favourite of pigeons and bowerbirds over-wintering on the coast. As well as occurring on coastal sand, Hard Corkwood is also found in high-altitude temperate rainforest, a curious distribution pattern seen in some other species. It is one of the few species of Endiandra, a mainly rainforest genus, adapted to fire, as indicated by its thick bark. It grows very slowly from seed.

Hard Corkwood

Family: Lauraceae

Identification:

•tree to 20 m high, bark fissured, black

•leaves 5–10 cm x 1–3 cm

•leaves glossy, leathery

•fruit an ovoid drupe, black, 2 cm long

Ecosystems: LRF, WSF, TRF

Coastal Aspen

Acronychia imperforata

Shrub or small tree to 10 m high, common in littoral rainforest. Leaves smooth, broader and rounded in the upper half, apex often notched. Small yellow flowers produce yellow to orange, succulent fruits with a hard stone. It can grow as a single trunked tree or multiply vegetatively by suckering to produce thickets of small stems. Mainly found on coastal Holocene sand and rarely inland in disturbed rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest. If burnt it regenerates by root suckering and from seed. The species ranges from Taree, NSW, to Cape York.

Coastal Aspen

Family: Rutaceae

Identification:

•shrub or small tree to 10 m high

•single trunked, or low thickets

•leaves dull to glossy, glabrous

•leaves non-aromatic, no oil dots

•flower yellow, fruit yellow or orange

Ecosystem: LRF

White Aspen

Acronychia oblongifolia

Small to medium-sized tree to 20 m high with opposite branches and leaves. The glossy leaves are 1-foliate, meaning the leaf it actually a leaflet and the other leaflets have been lost. Clusters of small, white flowers with petals 4–7 mm long grow from the leaf axils. The fruits are squarish, 1 cm in diameter and succulent. This species ranges from Gympie, Qld, south to East Gippsland, Vic. Common in SEA in LRF and coastal WSF, also in STRF.

White Aspen

Family: Rutaceae

Identification:

•small to medium tree, 6–20 m high

•leaves glossy, opposite, aromatic

•leaf (1-foliate) 4–12 cm x 2–5 cm

•flowers white, in short panicles

•fruit white to pale yellow, 4-lobed, 1 cm

Ecosystems: LRF, WSF, STRF

Tuckeroo

Cupaniopsis anacardioides

Large tree or low shrub ranging from Cape York to the Sydney region. Common in SEA near the sea on sand, also on bedrock headlands, estuaries and inland in dry rainforest. Endemic to eastern Australia.

Tuckeroo

Family: Sapindaceae

Identification:

•shrub in thickets or large tree

•leaves pinnate, 5–25 cm long

•leaflets 4–11, glabrous, blunt

•flowers and fruit in panicles

•fruit orange, 2–3 cm, seeds black

Ecosystems: LRF, DRF

Three-veined Laurel

Cryptocarya triplinervis var. triplinervis

One of the commonest littoral rainforest trees in SEA, often dominating the wind-sheared canopy just above the beach. There are two varieties of this species that may eventually be recognised as different species. The coastal one has appressed, white hairs on the underside of the leaf and domatia in the main vein angles. It ranges from Cape York to South West Rocks on the Mid North Coast of NSW, often comprising a large part of the littoral rainforest canopy.