Waratah (Telopea)

wet and dry sclerophyll. Wet sclerophyll

Forests are typically dominated by tall,

quite close growing eucalypts such as

Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), the

tallest flowering plant on earth. (Along

with Eucalyptus diversicolor, the Karri

of Australia's south-west, it is also

the tallest hardwood species in the world.)

The canopy is dense but not light-excluding

so that an understorey, usually a profusion

of tree-ferns and softer-leafed trees and

shrubs, is able to flourish. Growing in

areas of lower rainfall and soil nutrients,

the trees in dry sclerophyll forests are

smaller. They are predominantly Eucalypts,

such as Messmate Stringybark, Brown

Stringybark, Spotted Gum or Jarrah in the

south-west, and Angophoras, growing up to

30 metres in height. These may be

interspersed with still smaller species of

Grevillea, Melaleuca and Telopea. Better

known as Waratahs, Telopea are found in

areas of New South Wales where they have

adapted to exploit chemicals released by

the breakdown of sand-stone otherwise poor

in nutrients. Dry sclerophyll forest is

also more open, allowing light to penetrate

and promote the growth of a scrubby

understorey which at ground level, might

include bracken ferns, grass trees and

cycads.

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Music - The Forest Speaks