Vegetation class map
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Key:
<1%
1-10%
10-50%
>50%
Estimated percentage landcover for vegetation class
Structure
Open eucalypt forests and woodlands 10-25 m tall with prominent sclerophyll shrub understorey and open groundcover of sclerophyll sedges. There a striking structural contrast between the stunted woodlands on ridges and dry slopes, and the taller forests in gorges and on sheltered slopes.
Trees
Throughout this class Angophora bakeri (narrow-leaved apple), Corymbia eximia, C. gummifera (red bloodwood), Eucalyptus beyeriana (Beyers ironbark), E. consideniana (yertchuk) E. punctata (grey gum), E. sclerophylla (hard-leaved scribbly gum) and E. sparsifolia (narrow-leaved stringybark) occur on ridges, exposed slopes and plateaux. In sheltered gullies Angophora costata (Sydney red gum), Eucalyptus agglomerata (blue-leaved stringybark), E. deanei (mountain blue gum), E. pilularis (blackbutt) and Syncarpia glomulifera (turpentine) may be common.
Shrubs
Acacia suaveolens, Astrotricha obovata (star-hairs), Dodonaea triquetra, Lambertia formosa (mountain devil), Leptospermum trinervium (flaky-barked teatree), Leucopogon muticus, Monotoca scoparia (prickly broom-heath), Persoonia levis (broad-leaved geebung), P. linearis (narrow-leaved geebung), P. oblongata, Phyllanthus hirtellus, Podolobium ilicifolium (prickly shaggy pea), Pultenaea microphylla. In more sheltered sites Acacia terminalis (sunshine wattle), Elaeocarpus reticulatus (blueberry ash), Platysace lanceolata and Pultenaea flexilis also occur.
Forbs
Calochlaena dubia (common ground fern) and Pteridium esculentum (bracken) are common in sheltered sites, Anisopogon avenaceus (oat speargrass), Aristida vagans (threeawn speargrass), Caustis flexuosa (curly wig), Entolasia stricta (wiry panic), Lomandra glauca (pale mat-rush).
Habitat
Sandstone ridges, slopes and gullies with infertile soils, mostly below about 600 m elevation, where mean annual rainfall varies between 650 and 950 mm. The topography varies from gentle rises and valleys around Putty and Mellong to labyrinthine slot canyons sliced into the rugged plateaux of the Blue Mountains by the Colo, Grose and Nepean rivers and their tributaries.
Distribution
Hinterland sandstone areas of the Sydney Basin. Extensive areas in Wollemi and Yengo national parks, north-west of Sydney. Further south they form a narrow band surrounding the Cumberland Plain from Lapstone south to Picton, and from Wilton north-east to Holsworthy. A small disjunct area also occurs west of Nowra. Restricted to New South Wales.
Notes
An extensive and variable group of assemblages sharing a number of species with Sydney Coastal Dry Sclerophyll Forests, but generally less diverse. Variation relates to rainfall and soil development. Large areas remain in a wild and undeveloped condition.
Sources
Ryan et al. (1996)
See all threatened species associated with this vegetation class
See a
list of species, populations and ecological communities
associated with the Sydney Hinterland Dry Sclerophyll Forests vegetation class.