We are currently knee-deep (literally!) in biodiversity surveys throughout the beautiful Wombat State Forest, located in and around Daylesford, Victoria.
Much of this forest will be merged with Lederderg State Park to create a new national park in the near future. The ERA team is currently surveying for endangered flora and fauna throughout the forest and has found a wonderful range of taxa. We present to you a small selection below:
Wombat Bush-pea (Pultenaea reflexifolia) is restricted primarily to Wombat Forest and is named for its reflexed leaves. Spotting its lovely, bright green plant during our surveys has been a treat. This species is classified as rare within Victoria.
The Penny-leaf Flat-pea (Platylobium rotundum) is a prostrate pea with broadly ovate to orbicular leaves reminiscent of pennies. It grows in open forest and is classified as vulnerable.
We have also been lucky enough to spot the elusive Spotted Hyacinth Orchid (Dipodium pardalinum). As the name suggests, this species has dark red to purple spots and blotches, particularly on the labellum. This species is listed as rare within Victoria.
We’ve also found the charming Wiry Bossiaea ( Bossiaea cordigera). It favours moist locations in heathy woodland and open forest. The small emerald, heart-shaped leaves and red stems make it attractive, even when it isn’t flowering . This species is listed as rare.
We have also been looking at stands of Brooker’s Gum (Eucalyptus brookeriana). This relatively recently named species is often confused with E. ovata but is distinguished by its elliptic, crenolate juvenile leaves and high eucalyptus oil (cineole) content. This species is found sporadically throughout Victoria (listed as rare) and is disjunct with Tasmania, where it is more common. It prefers sedgy riparian woodland habitat in Wombat State Forest.
Wombat State Forest has a huge range of diverse flora and fauna throughout. Here are some more photos from our work.
Wombat SF is only one hour’s drive from Melbourne and is full of stunning walking tracks such as the Goldfields Track.
We look forward to posting more wonders from this gorgeous forest.
