Blue Mountains Local Environmental Plan 2005
2LCasuarina cunninghamiana ‘River Oak Forest’
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2L Casuarina cunninghamiana ‘River Oak Forest’
(2L) Casuarina cunninghamiana ‘River Oak Forest’
The Casuarina cunninghamiana River Oak Forest in the Blue Mountains is included within the Sydney Coastal Riverflat Forest listed as an endangered ecological community in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
Narrow bands of River Oak Forest occur on the alluvial banks of the Coxs River. This community also occurs in small, unmapped occurrences along the Hawkesbury-Nepean River. The dominant canopy species is Casuarina cunninghamiana**subsp.**cunninghamiana (River Oak) with occasional subdominants being Angophora floribunda (Rough-barked Apple), Eucalyptus viminalis (Ribbon Gum) and E. tereticornis (Forest Red Gum), and rarely Angophora subvelutina (Broad-leaved Apple). Backhousia myrtifolia (Myrtle) can also occur on the sheltered fringes of this community. Along the larger tributaries to the east of the Coxs River, the understorey is often dominated by Leptospermum species. In these situations, Lomandra longifolia and several sedges can dominate the ground layer.
The understorey is generally sparse because of the mobile nature of the substrate (mobile gravels, sands and large areas of bare granite). The surrounding lands have often been cleared for agriculture and these communities are often highly prone to willow and other weed infestation.
Casuarina cunninghamiana River Oak Forest is characterised by the following assemblage of native plant species. Other species may also occur, but the list is indicative of the species most characteristic of this composition.
| Acacia floribunda | Acacia parvipinnula | Agrostis avenaceus | | Alisma plantago-aquatica | Angophora floribunda | Angophora subvelutina | | Backhousia myrtifolia | Blechnum nudum | Breynia oblongifolia | | Bursaria spinosa | Callistemon citrinus | Callistemon paludosus | | Casuarina cunninghamiana subsp.cunninghamiana | Cheilanthes distans | Clematis aristata | | Commelina cyanea | Crassula sieberiana | Cynodon dactylon | | Cyperus sphaeroideus | Eleocharis sphacelata | Entolasia stricta | | Eucalyptus tereticornis | Eucalyptus viminalis | Geranium homeanum | | Gnaphalium involucratum | Hemarthria uncinata | Isolepis inundata | | Isolepis prolifera | Juncus acuminatus | Juncus caespitosus | | Juncus usitatus | Leptospermum juniperinum | Leptospermum morrisonii | | Leptospermum polygalifolium | Lomandra longifolia | Microlaena stipoides | | Persicaria hydropiper | Persicaria praetermissa | Ranunculus inundatus | | Rumex sp. | Tristaniopsis laurina | Wahlenbergia gracilis |