Australian forest/wetland environment

Looking rather dry when I visited this area - a year since our extreme temperatures began and a summer we would all like to forget.

These wetlands usually support a succession of plants from the deepest water to the damp edge. In the deepest parts are tall clumps of spike rush (Eleocharis sphacelata), Lepironia articulata, and sword grass (Gahnia sieberiana), while in the shallower waters the water ribbons (Triglochin procerum) grow, whilst near the edge are thick masses of Gahnia clarkei.

In the damp peaty sand above the normal water level are the ferns Blechnum indicum and Gleichenia species and the large leafed Banksia robor, and the soft green masses of curly Baloskion tetraphyllum, (syn. Restio tetraphyllus).

Also around the wetland edges are swamp mahogany (Eucalyptus robusta) and the broad-leafed paperbark (Melaleuca quinquinervia), as well as the shrubby species Banksia spinulosa, Leptospermun juniperinum and Callistemon citrinus. The swamp mahogany trees are an important food source for the local koala population.