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.
Flax Wattle – Acacia linifolia An early flowering wattle, brightening the bush in autumn when little else is in flower. A shrub to 3m tall, with narrow phyllodes to 5cm long. Common on plateau and slopes.
Queensland Silver Wattle – Acacia podaylriifolia Not a local species but conspicuous trees are located around the playground. Foliage is silver-grey and flowers are bright yellow balls.
Sweet-scented Wattle – Acacia suaveolens An early flowering wattle, commencing to flower in April and lasting until November. A slender shrub with flat phyllodes to 12cm long. Buds enclosed by brownish bracts which fall to expose yellow flower heads. Widespread and common.
Prickly Moses – Acacia ulicifolia Another small wattle (to 2m tall) which flowers from autumn to spring. Flower balls a light cream and phyllodes rigid, angular and needle-pointed.
Pixie Caps – Acianthus fornicatus Small ground orchid with 4-6 reddish green flowers on stem to 20cm tall. Leaf basal, heart-shaped and seen on the ground even when there are no flowers. Very common in sheltered understorey.
Black She-oak – Allocasuarina littoralis (male) Erect to spreading tree with pine-like leaves and teeth in a whorl around stem joints. Male and female flowers on separate trees. Male flowers along tan spikes at the end of branches. Common in Park.
Native Fuchsia – Correa reflexa Erect shrub to 80cm tall with opposite stem-clasping leaves which are covered with hairs. Flowers bell-shaped, yellow-green. Common in sheltered sites.
Tall Green Hood – Pterostylis longifolia Ground orchid with up to 7 flowers on an upright stem to 30cm tall. Flowers pale green with a green and black labellum. Leaves along stem each 3 to 10cm long. Uncommon in Park on moist sites on lower slopes.
- Native Plants of Oatley Park, A Photographic Guide Published by Oatley Flora and Fauna Conservation SocietyNative 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