Flora
New South Wales has many types of vegetation/flora. The diversity of plant life includes: Grasslands,
Wet and Dry Sclerophyll forests, Eucalypt woodlands, Rainforests and Acacia dominated areas. Many of
these different types of vegetation are a commonly ‘Australian’ as animals like the koala and kangaroo.
A map of the vegetation distribution in New South Wales can be found at:
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/images/sop04/sop04map07.jpg.
Eucalyptus
The eucalyptus tree is one of the most well known plants in Australia. There are over 700 different
species of eucalyptus in Australia and almost all of them are native. Most eucalyptus species are
evergreen and are the main reason ‘bushfires’ or forest fires are so extreme in Australia – they burn
without delay and will quickly spread the fire from tree to tree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus
Acacias
Acacias, otherwise known as ‘wattle brush’ are harvested for many different things around the world
but the Acacias in Australia are used for their distinctive amounts of tannin. This is then exported to
other nations as tannic acid. They occur in the north-western regions of New South Wales, far from the
coast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_aulacocarpa
Casuarina
The Casuarina has many species, one of which is native to New South Wales and Queensland and are
found in the western part of NSW. It has grey-green, needle-like leaves. They grow up to 60 meters tall
and 10 meters across.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casuarina_cunninghamiana
Acacia asparagoides
This type of threatened wattle grows between 0.3m – 2m and flowers between August and October. It is
a thorn plant and grows mainly west of the Sydney region of New South Wales, e.g. dry sclerophyll
forest of the Blue Mountains.
An image of this endangered species can be found from the Botanical Gardens Trust at:
http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/WattleWeb/images/Acacia_asparagoides.jpg
Waratah
The Waratah is a spectacular flowering plant that grows in the east of New South Wales and is the state
emblem. It has a very large flower that grows up to 30cm. The total height of the plant is usually around
3m but without bushfires, it can grow up to 5m. This is quite uncommon, though, because the Waratah
is mostly found in bushfire prone areas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waratah
Fauna
Eastern Grey Kangaroo
The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is a marsupial found in New South Wales and is one of the most well known
animals in Australia both domestically and overseas. The kangaroo can be found on the Australian Coat
of Arms, currency and on the aircraft of Australia’s national airline, ‘QANTAS’. They stand 2m tall and
weigh about 66kg. They are extremely shy animals and, while their numbers are great, aren’t seen in
populated areas at all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Grey_Kangaroo
Diamond Python
The diamond python is a 2-4m snake with olive coloured skin. This would be considered to be a medium
to large size snake. It can be found in the south-western, coastal regions of New South Wales. Their
main habitat is undisturbed forest. They are ambush predators and are very territorial.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_python
Green Tree Frog
A common amphibian in New South Wales is the Green Tree Frog. Its name suggests its colour and
habitat and it is quite true. Their distribution is all through New South Wales, Queensland and even
across the country to the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Another interesting point on this
frog is that it is the most common species of pet frog in Australia because of its comical, ‘cartoony’ look.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Green_Tree_Frog
Laughing Kookaburra
The laughing Kookaburra is another iconic, native animal found in Australia. The Kookaburra is a
carnivorous bird that doesn’t have a problem spending time with people in semi-rural areas of the cities
in New South Wales.
The Laughing Kookaburra’s name isn’t coincidental. Their ‘call’ actually sounds like someone laughing.
This can be quite entertaining when you are sitting quietly in the bush and then you hear someone
laughing only to find that it’s a ‘kooky’ in the tree next to you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughing_Kookaburra
Arachnocampa richardsae
This invertebrate is a species of fungus gnat. This insect, in its larvae stage, is a glowworm. It will glow
brighter when it is hungrier and eats moths, flies, small snails and mosquitoes. If it cannot get enough
food, it will turn to cannibalism. The Arachnocampa richardsae can be found in the Blue Mountains of
New South Wales.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachnocampa
Yellow-Bellied Glider
The Yellow-Bellied Glider has a conservation status in NSW of Vulnerable. Its body is around 30cm long
and its long, bushy tail is about 45cm long. A fully-grown Yellow-Bellied Glider will weigh about 450700g. They can be found along the eastern coast and the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range.
They feed on nectar, sap, honeydew and pollen.
http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10601
Platypus
The Platypus is one of the last five monotremes alive, along with four other species of echidna. A
monotreme is a mammal that lays eggs rather than giving birth to live young. It is a semi-aquatic
mammal and is the animal emblem of New South Wales. “The bizarre appearance of this egg-laying,
venomous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European naturalists when they first
encountered it.”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus) This animal is truly unique because it is one of
only a handful of venomous mammals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus