The Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub, which also incorporates Sydney Coastal Heaths, is a remnant

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or ...

scrubland and

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

that is found in the

eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

and southern regions of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, New South Wales, Australia. Listed under the ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

'' as and endangered vegetation community and as 'critically endangered' under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, the Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub is found on ancient, nutrient poor sands either on dunes or on promontories.Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub of the Sydney Region

Department of the Environment (Australia, 2013–2016) The Australian Department of the Environment was a Government department, department of the Government of Australia that existed between September 2013 and July 2016. The department was charged with responsibility for developing and implementin ...

. Retrieved 14 September 2022. Text was copied from this source, which is available unde
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Sydney coastal heaths are a scrubby heathland found on exposed coastal sandstone plateau in the south.

Geography

The scrubland is found on wind-blown ( aeolian) sands in coastal areas such as the

Sydney Heads The Sydney Heads (also simply known as the Heads) are a series of headlands that form the wide entrance to Sydney Harbour in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. North Head and Quarantine Head are to the north; South Head and Dunbar Head are to ...

south to the

Kamay Botany Bay National Park The Kamay Botany Bay National Park is a Heritage register, heritage-listed state park, protected national park that is located in the eastern part of Botany Bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The national park is situated approximately ...

and

Royal National Park The Royal National Park is a state park, protected national park that is located in the Sutherland Shire local government area in Southern Sydney and in the City of Wollongong local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Au ...

, but has remnants between the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River (Dharug language, Dharug: Dyarubbin) is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle ...

in the north, and Stanwell Park, at the southern boundary. It was once present as an almost uninterrupted band near the coastal perimeter of Sydney, where it covered 5,300 hectares of land between North Head and

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

, but now there are very few parts left in Sydney, with only around 5-10% of the original area present. It mainly occurs on senescent and nutrient poor sands either on dunes, sandplains or on headlands. It is now recorded in the local government areas of

Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

, Waverley, and

Manly Council Manly Council was a local government area on the northern beaches region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, first incorporated in 1877. On 12 May 2016, the Minister for Local Government announced that Manly Council would be subsumed into th ...

s.Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub in the Sydney Basin Bioregion - profile

Office of Environment & Heritage The New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), a former division of the Government of New South Wales between April 2011 and July 2019, was responsible for the care and protection of the environment and heritage, which includ ...

. Retrieved 15 September 2022. The heathlands are recorded in the coastal sandstone plateau, which grade into dry sclerophyll forests.

Ecology

The community generally features sclerophyllous heath or scrub species on coastal sandstone highland with infertile, shallow, somewhat moist soils, although small residue of woodland and low forest may occur. It is dominated by woody shrub species, such as,

Banksia aemula ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular Ornamental plant, garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and woody fruiting ...

Banksia serrata ''Banksia serrata'', commonly known as the saw banksia, the old man banksia, the saw-tooth banksia or the red honeysuckle and as wiriyagan by the Cadigal people, is a species of woody shrub or tree of the genus ''Banksia'', in the family P ...

Leptospermum laevigatum ''Gaudium laevigatum'', commonly known as the coast tea tree, is a species of shrub or small tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia, but has been widely introduced in other places where it is often considered to be a weed. It has thin, r ...

Monotoca elliptica ''Monotoca elliptica'', the tree broom heath, is a plant in the family Ericaceae, found in south-eastern Australia. Description Monotoca elliptica is a long-lived species which may grow for more than a hundred years. The plant is often seen as ...

Acacia longifolia ''Acacia longifolia'' is a species of ''Acacia'' native to southeastern Australia, from the extreme southeast of Queensland, eastern New South Wales, eastern and southern Victoria, southeastern South Australia, and Tasmania. Common names for it ...

, and

Acacia suaveolens ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Australa ...

, with stunted eucalypts, such as

Corymbia gummifera ''Corymbia gummifera'', commonly known as red bloodwood, is a species of tree, rarely a mallee, that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups o ...

and

Angophora costata ''Angophora costata'', commonly known as Sydney red gum, rusty gum or smooth-barked apple, is a species of tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. Reaching in height, the species has distinctive smooth bark that is pinkish or orange-brown wh ...

. Mallee varieties of

Eucalyptus camfieldii ''Eucalyptus camfieldii'', commonly known as Camfield's stringybark or heart-leaved stringybark, is a species of Mallee (habit), mallee or small tree that is Endemism, endemic to New South Wales. It has rough, fibrous and stringy bark, broadly la ...

Eucalyptus luehmanniana ''Eucalyptus luehmanniana'', commonly known as the yellow top mallee ash, is a species of Mallee (habit), mallee that is Endemism, endemic to a small area in New South Wales. It has smooth white bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, flower ...

and Eucalyptus obstans may be found on coastal heaths.Sydney Coastal Heaths
Retrieved 29 January 2023. Understorey species include Pimelea linifolia,

Persoonia lanceolata ''Persoonia lanceolata'', commonly known as lance-leaf geebung, is a shrub native to New South Wales in eastern Australia. It reaches in height and has smooth grey bark and bright green foliage. Its small yellow flowers grow on racemes and ap ...

Philotheca salsolifolia ''Philotheca salsolifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It is a shrub with crowded, more or less cylindrical leaves and pink to mauve flowers ...

, Pimelea linifolia,

Ricinocarpos pinifolius ''Ricinocarpos pinifolius'', commonly known as wedding bush, is a shrub of the family Euphorbiaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It has fragrant daisy-like flowers in spring. Description ''Ricinocarpos pinifolius'' is a small shrub ...

, Styphelia viridis,

Xanthorrhoea resinosa ''Xanthorrhoea resinosa'' (synonyms ''X. hastilis'', ''X. resinifera''), is known as one of the grass trees, a mid-sized plant in the genus Xanthorrhoea. The specific epithet is from the Latin, meaning “having resin”.Les Robinson - Field Gui ...

Haemodorum planifolium ''Haemodorum planifolium'' is a shrub native to southeastern Australia. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q15343223 planifolium Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland ...

, Hypolaena fastigiata,

Lepidosperma concavum ''Lepidosperma concavum'', commonly known as the sandhill sword-sedge, is a plant found in coastal regions of south-eastern and eastern Australia. It grows on sandy soils in woodland, forest and heathland. Description The sandhill sword-sedge ...

, Lomandra glauca,

Xanthosia pilosa ''Xanthosia pilosa'', commonly known as woolly xanthosia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is an erect to open shrub with variably shaped leaves and compound umbels of up to 2 ...

Bossiaea ''Bossiaea'' is a genus of about 78 species of flowering plants in the pea family Fabaceae and is endemic to Australia. Plants in this genus often have stems and branches modified as cladodes, simple, often much reduced leaves, flowers with the ...

and

. Shrubs on the coastal heaths include

Allocasuarina distyla ''Allocasuarina distyla'', commonly known as scrub she-oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to south-eastern New South Wales. It is a dioecious shrub that has branchlets up to long, the leaves reduced t ...

Angophora hispida ''Angophora hispida'' grows as a mallee, or as a tree to about in height. Its small size, especially when compared to its ''Angophora'' and ''Eucalyptus'' relatives, leads to it being known by the common name dwarf apple. It is native to a rel ...

Banksia ericifolia ''Banksia ericifolia'', the heath-leaved banksia, or lantern banksia, is a species of woody shrub of the family Proteaceae native to Australia. It grows in two separate regions of Central and Northern New South Wales east of the Great Dividing ...

Conospermum taxifolium ''Conospermum taxifolium'', commonly known as variable smoke-bush, yew-leaf smoke bush or paint brush, is a plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with narrow elliptic to narrow egg-shaped leave ...

, Darwinia diminuta,

Dillwynia floribunda ''Dillwynia floribunda '' is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect shrub with hairy stems, crowded, grooved, linear leaves and yellow flowers with red markings. Description ''Dill ...

, Epacris microphylla, Grevillea oleoides, Grevillea sphacelata,

Hakea teretifolia ''Hakea teretifolia'', commonly known as the dagger hakea, is a species of woody shrub of the family Proteaceae and is common on heathlands in coastal eastern Australia from northern New South Wales through to Victoria and Tasmania. A very pric ...

Isopogon anemonifolius ''Isopogon anemonifolius'', commonly known as broad-leaved drumsticks, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae that is native only to eastern New South Wales in Australia. It occurs naturally in woodland, open forest, and heathland on sandstone soi ...

, Leptospermum squarrosum,

Leptospermum trinervium ''Gaudium trinervium'', commonly known as flaky-barked tea-tree, slender tea-tree or paperbark tree, is a species of shrub or small tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has papery bark that is shed in thin, flaking layers, narrow ellipti ...

, Leucopogon microphyllus,

, Pultenaea tuberculata and Xanthorrhoea resinifera.

Fauna

Animals include

Cercartetus nanus The eastern pygmy possum (''Cercartetus nanus'') is a diprotodont marsupial of south-eastern Australia. Occurring from southern Queensland to eastern South Australia and also Tasmania, it is found in a range of habitats, including rainforest, ...

, Phylidonyris novaehollandiae,

Perameles nasuta The long-nosed bandicoot (''Perameles nasuta''), a marsupial, is a species of bandicoot found in eastern Australia, from north Queensland along the east coast to Victoria. Around long, it is sandy- or grey-brown with a long snouty nose. Omnivor ...

Antechinus stuartii The brown antechinus (''Antechinus stuartii''), also known as Stuart's antechinus and Macleay's marsupial mouse, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. The males die after their first breeding season, and the specie ...

and

. New Holland Honeyeaters (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) are crucial

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are ...

s of flowering plants in the scrubland.

References

{{Sydneybushland Endangered ecological communities Geography of Sydney Remnant urban bushland Ecoregions of New South Wales Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Sclerophyll forests Mallee Woodlands and Shrublands

Geography

Ecology

Fauna

See also

References