Our guide has been prepared with seasonal blooms in Oatley Park. The park protects important examples of the natural environment which occurred throughout the area before the spread of suburbs. Within its boundaries are numerous micro-habitats giving protection to a variety of native plants and to animals which rely on those plants for food, shelter and nesting.
Gosford Wattle – Acacia prominens Tree with abundant yellow ball flowers; phyllodes flat with a prominent gland below the centre. Common around the oval and near picnic ground.
Old Man’s Beard – Clematis glycinoides Weak climber with leaves in 3 and masses of white 4-petalled flowers. Fruit has long silky appendages (like a beard). Roadside behind the Castle.
Purple Twining Pea – Hardenbergia violacea A twiner with veined leaves and violet pea flowers. Common scrambling over shrubs or up small trees.
Small Hovea – Hovea linearis Small erect shrub to 50cm tall with mauve flowers in leaf axils. Scattered in the understorey of dry woodland
Drumsticks – Isopogon anemonifolius Erect shrub with divided leaves. Flowers yellow in terminal cone-like heads. Widespread on plateau.
Red Bean – Kennedia rubicunda A weak twiner with broad leaves in 3s. Flowers a deep red, to 4cm long and hanging down. Common, especially in sunny bushy areas.
White Beard – Leucopogon ericoides Upright shrub with small sharp leaves and numerous small white flowers, bearded inside. On sandy soils, eg, sunny areas of The Headland Track.
Tree Broom-heath – Monotoca elliptica Large shrub to small tree. Leaves sharp and with parallel veins. Flowers small, white and bell-shaped , borne in clusters longer than the leaves. Widespread, especially common along The Headland Track
Small-leaf Daisy Olearia microphylla Medium shrub with many tiny leaves and abundant small white daisy flowers. Common, especially beside headland road.
Wonga Vine – Pandorea pandorana Woody vine with compound leaves; flowers tubular, whitish with mauve markings. Often climbing up trees. Sheltered areas.
Slender Rice Flower – Pimelea linifolia Slender erect shrub with opposite narrow leaves. White flowers heads at ends of stems. A conspicuous and common plant of plateau and slopes.
Ground Orchid – Diuris maculata Ground orchid, stems to 20cm tall; flowers yellow with brown markings. Mossy patches on rocks.
Fine -Leaf Brush-Pea – Pultenaea stipularis Erect shrub to 2m tall. Leaves narrow and crowded. Yellow flowers in dense terminal heads. Common on sheltered slopes.
Hairy Xanthosia – Xanthosia tridentata Small plant to 40cm tall, wholly clothed with long hairs. Leaves toothed. Small cream-green flowers are borne in leaf axils. Widespread and common.
Native Daphne (formerly Eriostemon) – Philotheca myoporoides Upright shrub with strong oil glands on stems and leaves. Flowers white with 5 petals in clusters from leaf bases. Rare in the park.
Rough Philotheca – Philotheca scabra ssp scabra Low shrub with narrow leaves covered in oil glands. Flowers white with 5 petals borne singly on short stalks from leaf axils. Common on sheltered slopes.
For More information on the Flora of Oatley Park and Sydney Region check out the publications below:
- Native Plants of Oatley Park, A Photographic Guide Published by Oatley Flora and Fauna Conservation Society
- Native Plants of Oatley Park Compiled by Alan Fairley, copies available at Oatley Flora and Fauna monthly meetings.
- Native Plants of the Sydney District an identification guide, by Alan Fairley & Philip Moore, available in book shops.
- D’harawal Seasons and Climatic Cycles, Compiled by Frances Bodkin & Illustrated by Lorraine Robertson 2008