Wet Gully and Southern Aspects

TREES

SYDNEY GREEN WATTLE Acacia decurrens
Handsome wattle tree to 10m with soft green feathery leaves and a prolific display of blossoms in spring. Fast growing, great screen plant. Grows best in moister shale soils but very adaptable.

SICKLE WATTLE   Acacia falcata
Small tree to tall shrub to 5m max. Often found in drier areas of Spotted Gum forest.
Unusual tree with soft-drooping foliage and attractive rough bark. A rarer plant in Pittwater. Important food source tree for Squirrel Gliders in winter. Prefers sunny well drained position.

SALLY WATTLE   Acacia floribunda
Attractive shrub to medium size tree with fine delicate leaves & abundant sprays of pale yellow wattle blossoms in late winter-spring. Richer sandstone & shale soils, sun to shade.
Long lived wattle. New leaves and flowers attractive to possums.

HICKORY WATTLE  Acacia implexa
Small to medium sized tree to 8m with light green sickle-shaped leaves. Bears cream wattle flowers in summer. Hardy once established with attractive bushy shape. Grows best in sun to semi-shade on both sand and shale soils.

HAIRY LEAVED WATTLE
Acacia irrorata
Small handsome tree with leaves covered in a dense felt of tiny stiff hairs. Pale yellow flowers during summer. Grows best in damp areas, often found along watercourses.

ROUGH BARKED ANGOPHORA Angophora floribunda
Handsome small to medium tree with fibrous bark and sinuously contorted upper limbs. Prefers moister richer shale soils. Abundant white flower clusters in spring and summer, attractive to nectar feeders. Leaf tips attractive to possums.

FOREST SHE-OAK    Allocasuarina torulosa
Beautiful rounded shaped tree with softly drooping foliage to 8m high that develops a bronze purplish hue. Grows in moister richer soils, on lower slopes and gullies.

COASTAL BANKSIA   Banksia integrifolia (Not on Scotland Island)
Small to medium size tree with grey-green & silver leaves, prolific pale yellow flower spikes in spring. Grows on both shale & sandy soils. Salt spray tolerant. Native fauna love nectar in flowers.

CORKWOOD    Endiandra sieberi

SPOTTED GUM    Eucalyptus maculata
Stunningly beautiful upright medium to tall tree with smooth ‘leopard-like’ spotted deciduous bark, pale white to greyish purple. Flowers in winter. Grows on shale soils in sun to semi-shade.

PEPPERMINT GUM   Eucalyptus piperita
Beautiful small to medium graceful tree to 15m high. Fine grey fibrous bark and smooth upper limbs. Flowers early summer. Grows best on sandy, moist sheltered position.

GREY IRONBARK    Eucalyptus paniculata
Deeply furrowed ironbark tree to 20m high.
Tall trunk with beautiful crown of leaves, creamy yellow flowers in autumn-spring.
Grows best sun to semi shade on shale soils.

GREY GUM     Eucalyptus punctata
Koala & possum food tree. Beautiful open-crowned medium size tree 10-30m with stunning grey, pink & orange bark. Flowers in summer. Grows both on shale & sandy soils, sun semi-shaded position.
SANDPAPER FIG    Ficus coronata
Beautiful small local fig to with rough sandpapery leaves and fig fruits growing on trunk and branches. Rainforest birds and animals find this tree very attractive. Extremely fast grower. Prefers sun to deep shade, moister shale soils.

PORT JACKSON FIG   Ficus rubiginosa

CHEESE TREE    Glochidion ferninandi

CABBAGE TREE PALM    Livistonia australis 
Stunning local native palm. Common on the peninsula in rainforest gullies and wet areas. Grows on shale soils in sun & shade. Slow growing at first but then will take off. Fruits are attractive to rainforest birds and mammals. Some birds will nest in palm thickets.

SWEET SCENTED PITTOSPORUM  Pittosporum undulatum

MUTTONWOOD    Rapanea variabilis

NATIVE CRAB APPLE   Schizomeria ovata

TURPENTINE    Syncarpia glomulifera
Striking upright medium to tall rough barked tree, with grey-green foliage, woody fruit capsules and distinctive yellow clusters of flowers in early spring.

MAGENTA LILLYPILLY   Syzigium paniculatum
Local small to medium rainforest tree 3-5m high, dense glossy green foliage, found in moist gullies, shale soils. Pretty edible succulent pink to red fruits in summer.

WATER GUM    Tristaniopsis laurina
Small spreading handsome tree 4-7m high, with attractive foliage and distinctive smooth trunk. Yellow flowers form dense clusters and a great sight in mid-summer. Grow well in a variety of conditions, best in sun to semi shaded, moist position on richer soils.

SHRUBS

SYDNEY GOLDEN WATTLE  Acacia longifolia
Attractive rounded shrub 1-3m high. Great screen plant, quick grower. Golden yellow blossoms in spring. Sandy to shale soils, sunny position.

GREY MYRTLE    Backhousia myrtifolia
Attractive spreading shrub to 3m with dark grey-green foliage, upright habit and has creamy-green star-shaped flowers clustered on tips in early summer. Grows best in protected gully areas with moisture.

BREYNIA      Breynia oblongifola
Extremely adaptable medium sized attractive shrub with small leaves, can become good screen plant in time. Grows in a wide variety of conditions in sun and semi shade. Will sucker if tip pruned creating dense small thickets.

BLACKTHORN    Bursaria spinosa
Attractive erect shrub to 2-3m with light delicate foliage and a magnificent display of sprays of delicate small white flowers in late summer to early autumn. Shrub has delicate soft thorns which makes this shrub a great small bird habitat plant. Prefers sun to dappled shaded in both well drained to moist sandy to shale soils.
HOP BUSH      Dodonea triquetra
Light shrub, vigorous grower in both sun to semi-shade on shale & sandy soils. Attractive 3 winged fruit in spring, green at first developing into a rusty red - similar to hops.

HOP GOODENIA     Goodenia ovata
Attractive small bushy herb found in sheltered gullies on moister shale soils. Soft glossy leaves with bright yellow flowers in spring to summer.

NATIVE INDIGO     Indigofera australis
Open and spreading shrub with bluish green foliage and sprays of purple pea flowers in spring. Hardy and well shaped, if lightly pruned after flowering, grows in both sandstone and shale well-drained soils in both sun and shade.

MOCK OLIVE    Notelea longifolia
Light shrub to 2m with dry leathery leaves, small indistinctive flowers but fruits resembling a small olive. Prefers moist sheltered shale soils in sun to dappled shade.

ROUGH FRUIT PITTOSPORUM   Pittosporum revolutum
Small to medium shrub 1-1.5m with darkish green whorled leaves on the stem. Yellow fragrant flowers in spring with a large rough fruit pod that opens to reveal brilliant red seeds popular with birds. Will sucker and develop into thickets if lightly pruned on a regular basis. Grows well in most conditions, prefers semi-shade, moist soils.

NATIVE PEACH     Trema aspera
Fast grower good screening shrub to 2.5m high. Flowers insignificant, but produces prolific small black berries attractive to birds. Grows best moister shale soils, in sunny to semi-shaded position.

TREE HEATH   Trochocarpa laurina
Unusual large shrub to 3m with ornamental new leaves forming red drooping umbrella-like clusters at the tips of the branches. Small white flower spikes at tips with dark blue berry. Grows best in warm, protected position in full sun to shade.

VEINY WILKIEA   Wilkiea huegeliana

GROUNDCOVERS, VINES, GRASSES & SEDGES

ASIATIC PENNYWORT  Centella asiatica
Creeping herb with attractive leaves, great groundcover. Prefers damper soils on both sand and shale.
NATIVE GRAPE   Cissus hypoglauca
Robust, vigorous vine with compound leaf with 5 glossy green leaflets. Tendrils on vine ensure this will climb vigorously but can be pruned for dense growth along the ground. Dark purple to black fruits attractive to birds. Grows on most soils types, but prefers moist shale soils.

KIDNEY WEED   Dichondra repens
Creeping prolific groundcover in moist sheltered shady areas.

BLUE FLAX LILLY  Dianella caerula
Small tufted weeping lilly with sprays of vibrant blue & yellow flowers in spring & summer. Prefers moist shale or sandy soils in sun & shade. Produces edible purple berries.

SAW SEDGE    Gahnia clarkei
Tall shiny green leafy sedge. Great feature plant with red-brown fruit on spikelets to 1.5m high. Prefers sunny, moist to even boggy, sandy soils. Good on creeklines and boggy areas.

SAW SEDGE    Gahnia melonocarpa
Taller leafy sedge approx 0.5m, great feature plant with spikelets developing masses of shiny black nuts. Prefers wetter areas where natural drainage or seepage lines exist.

NATIVE GERANIUM  Geranium homeanum
Slender sprawling herb with delicate white flowers. Grows best on shale soils in moister protected sites in dappled light.
HYDROCOTLE   Hydrocotle peduncularis
Trailing ground cover with lobed leaves and tiny green flowers. Good groundcover in damp sheltered situations on both sand and shale soils.

MATRUSH    Lomandra longifolia
Tough tufted sedge, will grow anywhere, in all conditions on all soils. Sweetly scented pale yellow flower spike in spring. Attracts insects which in turn attract birds.

LOBELIA       Lobelia alata
Small delicate herb, fast prolific grower. Produces tiny white to sky blue flowers much of the year. Tiny little stunner. Grows in a variety of conditions on both sandy and shale soils. Prefers sunny position.

NATIVE POA GRASS   Poa affinis
Bright green softly tufting local grass. Great feature plant. Delicate seed spikelets in early summer. Grows best in dappled light, shale moister soils.

BROAD LEAF NATIVE RASPBERRY   Rubus hilli
Robust climber, with thorny stems  found in rainforest areas. Leaf makes a great natural tea and fruits can be eaten. Good protective cover for native wildlife and fauna will forage for the fruit.

NATIVE VERONICA   Veronica plebaeia
Attractive creeping groundcover with delicate crinkly leaves and small blue-purplish flowers in summer.

NATIVE VIOLET  Viola hederacea
Creeping groundcover covers extensive areas in the right location, prefers sheltered moist shale soils in semi to deep shade.