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.
Smooth-barked Apple – Angophora costata Large beautiful tree with twisted branches. Trunk smooth, salmon to grey-blue, with bark shed in patches in November. Flowers white; fruit ribbed. Common in Park. Usually flowers Oct – Dec ???? late?
Heath-leaved Banksia – Banksia ericifolia Tall shrub. Leaves narrow and crowded. Flower spikes orange-red. Uncommon in Park.
Fern-leaved Banksia – Banksia oblongifolia Medium shrub. Leaves toothed, with underside of new growth covered with brown hairs. Flower spikes green-yellow. Uncommon in Park, occurring on drier plateau areas.
Common Bossiaea – Bossiaea heterophylla Shrub to 1m tall with flattened stems and small alternate leaves. Flowers yellow with a red keel conspicuous in undergrowth. Along Headland Track and slopes.
Red Bloodwood – Corymbia gummifera A medium to large tree with characteristic rough tessellated bark often blackened from fire. White flowers borne at the ends of the branches. Fruit urn-shaped. Widespread and common. Usually flowers Feb –March ?? late?
Hedgehog Grass –Echinopogon caespitosus Tufted grass with slender sandpapery stems to 60cm tall. Leaves mostly basal. Flower spike cylindrical. Common in open forest on sandy soils. Flowers from November to April.
Native Olive – Notelaea longifolia Tall shrub with lance-shaped leaves. Young branches softly hairy, becoming hairless with age. Flowers small, yellow and borne in clusters from leaf axils. Fruit a blue-black berry. Scattered throughout the Park.
Australian Bluebell – Wahlenbergia gracilis Small many-stemmed plant to 50cm tall. Leaves sparse at base of stems. Flowers blue, bell-shaped to 6mm across. Scattered in the Park in sheltered shaded locations.
Woollsia – Woollsia pungens Shrub to 2m tall. Leaves crowded, ovate, tapering to a pungent point. Flowers white borne in attractive clusters in the upper leaves. Conspicuous as it flowers in autumn and winter. Common in sheltered spots.
Hairy Xanthosia – Xanthosia pilosa Small plant to 40cm tall, wholly clothed in long weak hairs. Leaves toothed, to 50mm long. Insignificant cream-green flowers borne in the leaf axils. Widespread and very common. Some flowers all year round.