Vegetation class map
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Key:
<1%
1-10%
10-50%
>50%
Estimated percentage landcover for vegetation class
Structure
Open eucalypt forest up to 25 m tall, dominated by box, red gum and ironbark eucalypts interspersed with a an open subcanopy of pines, casuarinas and wattles; an open sclerophyll shrub stratum dominated by legumes and semi-continuous groundcover of grasses, graminoids and forbs.
Trees
Eucalyptus chloroclada, E. albens, E. microcarpa, E. pilligaensis, E. ), Eucalyptus albens (white box), E. chloroclada dirty gum), E. conica (fuzzy box), E. microcarpa (grey box) and E. pilligaensis (narrow-leaved grey box) with Allocasuarina luehmannii (bulloak) and Casuarina cristata occurring in local patches. On elevated sites the canopy often includes Eucalyptus crebra (narrow-leaved ironbark), E. dealbata (tumbledown red gum), E. melanophloia (silver ironbark), E. nubila (blue-leaved ironbark), E. populnea subsp. bimbil (bimble box) and E. sideroxylon (mugga).
Shrubs
Tall shrubs include Acacia deanei (Deans wattle), A. ixiophylla, A. polybotrya (western silver wattle), A. spectabilis (Mudgee wattle), Capparis mitchellii (wild orange), Eremophila mitchellii (budda) and Geijera parviflora (wilga), while a diverse lower shrub layer includes Acacia hakeoides, A. havilandiorum (Havilands wattle), A. lineata (streaked wattle), A. tindaleae (golden-top wattle), Daviesia ulicifolia (gorse bitter pea), Dillwynia genistifolia and D. sieberi (egg and bacon peas), Hibbertia obtusifolia, H. sericea (silky guinea flower), Homoranthus flavescens, Indigofera australis (hill indigo), Melaleuca densispicata, M. uncinata (broombush), Melichrus urceolatus (urn heath), Micromyrtus ciliata (fringed heath-myrtle), M. sessilis.
Forbs
Brunoniella australis (blue trumpet), Calotis cuneifolia (purple burr-daisy), C. lappulacea (yellow burr-daisy), Chrysocephalum apiculatum (common everlasting), Dianella revoluta (blue flax lily), Laxmannia gracilis, Cheilanthes distans (bristly cloak fern), Aristida calycina (dark wiregrass), A. ramosa (purple wiregrass), Austrodanthonia bipartita (bandicoot grass), Austrostipa scabra subsp. scabra (rough speargrass), Bothriochloa ewartiana (desert bluegrass), Chloris truncata (windmill grass), Enteropogon acicularis (curly windmill grass), Lomandra longifolia (spiny-headed mat-rush), L. multiflora (many-flowered mat-rush).
Habitat
Deep sandy loams and sands of moderate fertility on flat outwash plains associated with sandstone peneplains.
Distribution
Restricted to the area bounded by the Namoi and Castlereagh rivers, between the townships of Coonabarabran, Narrabri and Coonamble, and an area south-west of the Warrumbungle Range towards Narromine, though principally in the northern Pilliga area. Unique to New South Wales.
Notes
A distinctive group of assemblages with some endemism. Shares a number of species with Western Slopes Dry Sclerophyll Forests and Western Peneplain Woodlands. Substantial areas of these forests have been thinned or cleared and converted to pasture, while grazing is practised in much of the remaining forest.
Sources
Metcalfe et al. (2004); Sivertsen & Metcalfe Sivertsen & Metcalfe (1998b)
See all threatened species associated with this vegetation class
See a
list of species, populations and ecological communities
associated with the Pilliga Outwash Dry Sclerophyll Forests vegetation class.