Plants and Vegetation Communities

So far we know of at least 12 major plant communities on the property. They include woodlands of york gum, yate and granite sheoak in the drainage lines, dense thickets of blue mallee that cloak the breakaway country, and elements of the Kwongan heath -bizarre shrub lands of Dryandras and Banksias - on the sandy plains. Four of these woodlands have been almost eliminated from the Western Australian wheat belt.

These plant communities occur within a mosaic of other native vegetation types rather than as isolated stands in otherwise desolate fields of wheat. As such the contribution that they make to conservation is far greater than if they existed in isolation. The number and variety of animals and plants that they support, and the lack of weeds attests to this. With such an abundance of plants the wildflower displays are very spectacular, and a significant number of species are likely to be undescribed scientifically. With this number of plant species and communities on a relatively small area, this reserve is one of the most diverse of all of the Bush Heritage reserves.

Granite honey myrtle PHOTO: BARBARA MADDEN