Vegetation class map
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Key:
<1%
1-10%
10-50%
>50%
Estimated percentage landcover for vegetation class
Structure
Open dry eucalypt forest or woodland 15-20 m tall, with an open to sparse sclerophyll shrub stratum and open groundcover of tussock grasses. Forests are stunted on exposed stony hills and taller on deeper soils in undulating terrain.
Trees
Eucalyptus macrorhyncha (red stringybark) and E. rossii (scribbly gum) occur throughout, with E. dalrympleana subsp. dalrympleana (mountain gum) and E. cinerea (Argyle apple), E. dives (broad-leaved peppermint) extend to higher elevations. In some areas E. mannifera (brittle gum), E. radiata subsp. radiata (narrow-leaved peppermint) and E. robertsonii subsp. robertsonii may be common, while in drier parts of the distribution, particularly on deeper soils E. albens (white box), E. goniocalyx (bundy) and E. nortonii (large-flowered bundy) are scattered throughout the canopy.
Shrubs
Acacia buxifolia (box-leaved wattle), A. dealbata (silver wattle), A. falciformis (broad-leaved hickory), Brachyloma daphnoides (daphne heath), Cassinia longifolia, Daviesia latifolia (broad-leaved bitter pea), D. mimosoides subsp. mimosoides, Exocarpos strictus (dwarf cherry), Hibbertia obtusifolia, Lissanthe strigosa (peach heath), Melichrus urceolatus (urn heath), Monotoca scoparia (prickly broom-heath), Olearia species, Persoonia chamaepeuce (dwarf geebung), Platylobium formosum subsp. formosum.
Scramblers
Hardenbergia violacea (false sarsaparilla).
Forbs
Asperula scoparia (prickly woodruff), Dianella revoluta var. revoluta (blue flax lily), Gonocarpus tetragynus, Stylidium graminifolium (grass triggerplant), Stypandra glauca (nodding blue lily), Joycea pallida (silvertop wallaby grass), Lomandra filiformis subsp. filiformis (wattle mat-rush), L. longifolia (spiny-headed mat-rush), Poa sieberiana var. sieberiana (snowgrass).
Habitat
Stony ridges and exposed slopes usually on infertile soils derived from sandstones, mudstones, granites and porphyry volcanics on low-rainfall western parts of the Great Dividing Range, 600 to more than 1100 m elevation
Distribution
Western parts of the Great Dividing range south from the Rylstone area, extending into the Victorian highlands. The largest remaining areas are found in extremely rugged terrain on the western slopes of the Tinderry Mountains, foothills of the Kosciuszko main range, and the Byadbo gorges.
Notes
A relatively species-poor group of assemblages grading into Southern Escarpment Dry Sclerophyll Forests or Western Slopes Dry Sclerophyll Forests with increasing or decreasing rainfall, respectively. Intermediate between Southern Escarpment Dry Sclerophyll Forests and Western Slopes Dry Sclerophyll Forests along an east-west rainfall gradient. Grades locally into Riverina Dry Sclerophyll Forests with increasing soil depth and fertility between Yass and Albury. Substantial clearing has occurred on subdued terrain, but large areas remain in Tinderry and Koscuizsko national parks.
Sources
Moore (1953); Keith & Bedward (1999); Thomas et al. (2000)
See all threatened species associated with this vegetation class
See a
list of species, populations and ecological communities
associated with the Southern Tableland Dry Sclerophyll Forests vegetation class.